'Pretty cool isn't it' - Party reacts to best-ever 1News poll result

Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says her party's best-ever 1News poll result is "pretty cool" – though on the latest numbers, Opportunity would still be kingmaker.

The Greens climbed three points to 16%, beating their previous high of 15% in July 2017. That would give the party 19 MPs. Opportunity fell two points to 6%, but neither the current coalition nor the left bloc could govern without its seven MPs.

In one projected seat scenario, National, ACT and NZ First would hold 59 seats, two short of the 61 needed for a majority. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori would hold 54.

Swarbrick said the Greens were taking nothing for granted.

"Pretty cool, isn't it? But look, I say the same thing whether the polls are up or down, which is that we shouldn't just watch the polls, but realise that New Zealanders have agency. Nothing is set in stone," she told 1News.

"We take nothing for granted, and we'll be working hard every single day to earn New Zealanders' trust to implement policies that actually improve their lives."

Meanwhile, Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong said the party's result showed a "solid base of support", and she pitched Opportunity as the vote for stable government.

"Of course, we're going to keep working really hard to increase that, and if people really want to see a stable next government, then they need to party vote Opportunity."

Wong said the poll showed voters were unhappy with Labour and National, which are tied on 28% and both down.

"It shows a real discontent for the major parties, a lack of ideas about how we tackle our big issues. But we also need some pragmatic politics if we're going to get through these big challenges of the coming decades," she said.

"That's what Opportunity is presenting – stable politics, pragmatic politics, because we have to work together on our big things like health and education, if we're going to have any shot at making progress."

National dropped a point to 28% in tonight's poll.

Asked what he would do to lift the party's polling, leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said: "The only poll that matters now is November the 7th."

Asked whether he was personally disappointed with 28%, he said: "November the 7th is the only poll that matters, and that's what we're doing the next six weeks, making our case to the New Zealand people."

Asked why Labour had fallen nine points over three polls, Luxon – whose own preferred prime minister rating rose two points – said: "I don't comment on polls.

"What I'm focused on is the poll on November the 7th. That is the only one that matters."

Asked about the Greens' surge, Luxon again turned to the choice he said faced voters.

"It is Labour and their radical mates with six leaders and nine new taxes up against National with no new taxes and a long-term plan to grow this economy."

Labour leader Chris Hipkins on Sunday called National's tax claims "bulls**t". Asked about that, Luxon said: "That's up to him as to how he carries himself through a campaign."

Hipkins said today he would not discuss deals with other parties before election day.

"I'm not having conversations with any other parties about policy concessions or policy agreements until after everybody's had their chance to have their say. The vote that matters is the one that happens in the election," he said.

"But the stronger Labour's vote, the stronger the government I will be able to form. Only Labour can lead a change of government."

Asked about Labour's nine-point drop over three polls, Hipkins said: "It's going to be a very close election, and we're going to be fighting for every single vote that we can get."

Asked about Luxon's criticism of him, Hipkins said: "Christopher Luxon is the most unpopular prime minister New Zealand's ever had. His own MPs don't support him, so why should New Zealanders listen to anything that he says?"

Luxon's preferred PM rating rose two points to 19%, five ahead of Hipkins on 14%.

ACT rose two points to 11%, and party leader David Seymour said the result showed the smaller parties' clout.

"Both the majors are lower than usual, but that just shows that minor parties are going to be critical. Building the ACT Party will ensure that the coalition is competitive," he said.

"The ACT Party has been consistent and effective at solving problems, not by panicking, not by knee-jerking. Just saying, folks, this is a hard time, but we can overcome. We've done it many times before, and we will again as a country."

Asked why the Greens were surging, Seymour said: "That's a very good question."

He said it was "hard to get into the mind of somebody who is wanting to vote for Green", but some Green voters might share ACT's values.

Asked what he would say to Green voters, Seymour said: "We want solutions to actually work. Yes, you want cheaper groceries, but do you really think the government running a supermarket is going to deliver that?"

NZ First rose a point to 9%, but party leader Winston Peters was insistent about his long-standing approach to polls.

"I know I've said it for a long time, but this time particularly, the polls are trash.

"They really are."

Asked why he thought that, he said: "There's such a huge gap. There's such huge variables, and I don't think they're in the room at all."

Asked if he would be happy with 9% on election day, Peters said: "Look, I'm in this mall. This is Auckland, and this is a very good demonstration of what the real world thinks."

Peters said Hipkins "must be waking up with a cold sweat every night at the very prospect of trying to govern the left if they were to get in".

The Greens' Swarbrick also rose two points to 8% as preferred prime minister, and she said her party still had room to grow.

"I want to be really clear. I don't think this is the ceiling," she said.

"We will continue working all the way through to election day to ensure that we get the biggest possible Green vote to actually deliver a lower cost of living, lower climate-changing emissions, and higher quality of life for all New Zealanders.

"In order to do that, we are going to need to have portfolios the likes of finance, energy, state-owned enterprises, climate change, and so on."

Asked whether she wanted those portfolios, Swarbrick said: "I mean, I've made it pretty clear that we've got to focus on the levers that will actually change things."

The Greens' rise came as Labour slipped two points to 28%.

Labour had been on 37% in April. Asked whether she was happy the Greens were taking Labour's vote, Swarbrick said: "No political party is entitled to anything."

Opportunity's Wong said the party would announce its bottom lines "very soon".

The election will be held on November 7, with advance voting starting on October 26.

See the full poll results and methodology

Between September 23 and September 27 2026, 1004 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (503) and online using online panels (501). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.4%-points at the 95% confidence level. Party support percentages have been rounded up or down to whole numbers, except those less than 4.5%, which are reported to one decimal place. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, ethnic identification and education level. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel. Undecided voters, non-voters and those who refused to answer are excluded from the data on party support. The results are a snapshot in time of party support, and not a prediction.