The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll reveals a majority of voters trust Labour's new leader Chris Hipkins, while the results aren't so swell for National's Christopher Luxon.
Three days into his prime ministership, Hipkins' introduction to the job was dealing with devastation in our largest city.
In the face of a flailing mayor and failing communications, enter Chippy on a chopper. It was Hipkins to the rescue, picking up the crisis PM baton.
The latest Newshub-Reid Research results also show he's rescued Labour from its downward slide too. Labour's on 38 percent, up 5.7 points.
"I'm encouraged by the early signs of support but I know we've got a lot of work ahead of us," he told Newshub.
Jacinda Ardern's emotional exit marched all over any prior political predictions. It could very well have been Labour's swansong, but the country's caught Chippy Fever.
"Look my focus really is on making sure we are responding to the issues we need to respond to," Hipkins said.
The handover of power from Ardern to Hipkins dealt everyone a completely different deck.
"We expected with a change of Prime Minister that there would be some movement," said Greens co-leader Marama Davidson. "I think the main thing for us, we are still polling well above our 2020 results."
"This is gonna be a fun election. You've got Chris versus Chris. Chris cross, Chris cross," said ACT's David Seymour.
"Whether it's red or blue, we were always going to stay focused on being that unapologetic Māori voice in Parliament," said Te Pāti Māori's Debbie Ngarewa Packer.
"It's going to be a very close election, be under no illusions," said National's Christopher Luxon.
The countdown to the Chris-off stands at 257 days.
Luxon was out doing the hard graft with flooded families on Monday - and he has some heavy lifting ahead. National is down 4.1 points to 36.6 percent.
Asked if he was gutted, Luxon said: "No, not unexpected - a new leader gets a bounce in the polls."
But he's lost the lead.
"Yeah, but what I'd say to you, is we've got a long way to go. We've got nine months to go."
Hipkins said he's "in this to win this".
"But I'm also in this to provide really good Government to New Zealand in the meantime."
Hipkins is helped along no doubt by his relatability and recognisability.
He wasn't starting from zero, far from it from memorable moments like when he told New Zealanders to, "get out there and spread your legs" during the COVID pandemic.
But here is where his support comes from - trust.
The Newshub-Reid Research poll asked voters whether they trusted both the major party leaders.
The results show 52.9 percent - a majority - said they trust Hipkins, while 26.9 percent didn't trust him. For Luxon, only 36.9 percent said they trust him, while 43.8 percent said, no they don't.
Luxon said: "I think voters can trust me to get things done."
"My job over the next year is to make sure people understand they can trust me."
Hipkins said trust "matters an enormous amount to me".
"I've always tried to be upfront with New Zealanders and I've always found a good level of support comes from that."
The verdict on Chippy from the Hutt is he's a reliable relatable guy who's hit the ground running.
The Newshub-Reid Research poll was conducted between 22 January – 27 January 2023 with a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
