Labour slumps but Nats shaken

Labour has plumbed new depths in our latest poll as the election takes an ugly turn after a day rocked by allegations of blackmail and dirty politics.

The Stuff.co.nz/Ipsos Political Poll has National on 55.10 per cent, virtually unchanged from July, while Labour has sunk to 22.5, down 2.4 percentage points.

The poll is a kick in the guts to Labour, which has steadily bled support since this time last year. On today’s numbers it would lose five MPs to just 29, putting even some senior front-bench MPs at risk. National would comfortably govern alone with 72 seats. The Greens are on 11.3 per cent while Internet-Mana’s higher profile has lifted its support to 2.1 per cent. A surprise mover are the Conservatives, which have jumped to 3.4 per cent, level pegging with NZ First.

But instead of celebrating, National is likely to spend its day regrouping after being blindsided by allegations in a new book by author Nicky Hager that staff in the prime minister’s ninth-floor office conspired with blogger Cameron Slater to run dirty political campaigns against National’s opponents.

Today’s poll shows a high proportion of undecided voters still, at 15.4 per cent.

John Key is at 54.3 per cent as preferred prime minister, compared with Labour leader David Cunliffe on 12 per cent.

The poll was taken from August 9 to August 13 and has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.