NEW POLL: Hung Parliament as cost-of-living concern soars to highest level since May 2024

Neither the Centre-Right or Centre-Left blocs have enough seats to form a Government in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll.

The poll shows Labour drops 0.3 points to 34.1 percent, while National drops 0.2 points to 31.3 percent.

New Zealand First drops 1.4 points to 10.5 percent, while the Greens jump 2.6 points to 10.3 percent. ACT drops 0.3 points to 6.7 percent, while Te Pāti Māori drops 0.1 points to 2.9 percent.

Headline results and more information about the methodology can be found on the Taxpayers' Union's website at www.taxpayers.org.nz/0226_polltu

For the Minor parties, TOP is on 1.4 percent (+0.7 points), NZ Outdoors and Freedom is on 1.2 percent (+0.6 points), Vision NZ is on 0.4 percent (+0.1 points), and New Conservatives are on 0.1 percent (-0.2 points).

This month's results are compared to the last Taxpayers' Union-Curia Poll conducted in January 2026, available at www.taxpayers.org.nz/jan26poll_nztucuria

The combined projected seats for the Centre-Right is down 3 to 60, while the combined seats for the Centre-Left rose 3 to 60. On these numbers, there would be a hung Parliament.

Cost of Living remains the most important issue, jumping 7.4 points to 34.9 percent. This is its highest result since May 2024.

The Economy more generally follows on 12.0 percent (-2.8 points), followed by Health on 9.2 percent (+0.4 points).

Commenting on the results, Taxpayers' Union Spokesman James Ross said:

"As we move deeper into election year, the race is neck-and-neck. This poll will serve as a wake-up call for the Government to lift its game."

"The sizeable shift in the seat numbers mostly reflects changes in support for the Greens and New Zealand First since last month."

"The other big shift is the increase in the number of voters more worried about the cost of living. It's now higher than anytime since May 2024. This is significant as it is counter to much of the media commentary about the recovering economy. Clearly people just aren't feeling it yet."