‘There’s one poll and it’s November 7’: Christopher Luxon says no poll could make him resign
Monday, 9 March 2026
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has told multiple interviewers that no bad poll will be enough to make him resign.
Luxon was speaking to media on Monday, after a poll from the Taxpayers’ Union/Curia was released on Friday showing the National Party at just 28.4%, its worst result since he took over the leadership, which led to some speculation Luxon was “considering his position”.
Repeating points he had made in an unscheduled Newstalk ZB interview on Friday afternoon, Luxon told various interviewers this was not the case.
He told TVNZ Breakfast he was was “absolutely” not resigning.
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“I don’t need polls to tell me as to what’s on New Zealanders’ minds. I talk to them every day, and it’s really obvious they need us to fix the economy so they can lower the cost of living, and that’s what this election is going to be all about,” Luxon said.
Asked directly if there was any poll that would change his mind, Luxon said no.
“There’s one poll, and it’s November 7.
“The New Zealand public doesn’t want me focusing on polls, what they want me doing is focusing on them, and making sure that every minute that I’ve got of the day is actually focused on making things better for them.”
He made a similar point to RNZ, saying there was many public polls but he wasn’t focused on them.
“There's a number of public polls. I often get two polls a week from different providers, and asked to comment on them. I don't comment on them because, actually, I don't think that's what New Zealanders want me doing.”
He said he was not at all worried about his caucus moving against him, suggesting that he had talked to many MPs who had made clear they supported him, but had not actually called them asking for their support.
“They tell me regularly, and it's just not a question that needs to be asked,” Luxon told RNZ.
“I talk to my ministers regularly, I was talking to Judith Collins over the weekend about our deployment of Hercules into into the region. I talked to ministers regularly, very regularly.”
He told Newstalk ZB, there was pressure on the prime minister every day but it was not “mounting” as the media suggested.
Luxon said “hand on heart” he would still be National leader come November 7.
He also told RNZ New Zealand was better prepared for the economic fallout of the war in Middle East than many other countries.
“Relative to any of the other 195 countries in the world that are dealing with the same impacts of this conflict, we are incredibly well positioned,” Luxon said.
“It ultimately is how long the conflict continues or how it escalates from here, and that's what we're monitoring very closely.”
He told Newstalk ZB New Zealand had good supplies of fuel both in-country and coming into the country but the wider impact would depend on how long the conflict went for.
He said New Zealand’s “strong social democratic institutions” meant it would just become more desirable as the world became less certain.