Labour leader Chris Hipkins has confessed to having a "weakness" prior to his first televised one-on-one debate with National's Christopher Luxon on Tuesday night.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning, Hipkins said he would be spending the rest of the day "reading back over my notes" in preparation for the event.
"Look, one weakness, and I'll confess it now. I don't have a photographic memory when it comes to facts and figures.
"I have been caught out on this before. I will spend a bit of time trying to refresh my memory on those things."
He said he hoped the public would "focus on the substance of the debate rather than the sport of it".
"I acknowledge that everybody these days seems to treat politics like a sport... There's a lot of substance that I think is important," Hipkins said. "I know there's a big undecided vote out there at the moment. So, there'll be people tuning in tonight to make up their minds about how they're going to vote."
It was put to Hipkins that in the "sport" element of politics, he excels. Hipkins is known for bringing some theatrics and pre-prepared attack lines to media standups, such as earlier this month when he brought advertisements criticising him to a press conference to make a point about his Opposition's attacks on him.
Hipkins said his opponent, Luxon, would have been doing "plenty of practice" and it was both their first times doing a leader's debate.
"Ultimately, the substance of what we're going to talk about tonight is really important. The substance is what people should vote on."
He said he would try and reflect "who I am as a person and my value".
"I don't need to be told my values by a focus group. I know what they are."
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll shows Hipkins' Labour at 26.8 percent, well below National at 40.9 percent. Hipkins and Luxon are tied on the preferred Prime Minister rankings.
Hipkins said there was still two weeks until early voting began and he believed there was a "huge undecided vote".
"There are a lot of New Zealanders who genuinely haven't made up their minds and that's what campaigns are all about.
"I think democracy relies on people making informed decisions when they vote.
"A leadership debate is an opportunity for them to be more informed about what we're proposing, what the National party is proposing, what the issues are that are at stake. I do hope people will tune in."
Meanwhile, Luxon told reporters he has been doing preparation in the evenings over the past few days.
"This whole process of being leader of the Opposition is probably the longest job interview I have ever gone through and clearly the debate is a big part of that or an important part of it. I have never done one before, I'm looking forward to it, I will do my best.
"I will have a lot of fun along the way."
Luxon hoped it would be a "contest of ideas" and people would get a sense of the difference between the parties.
He said Hipkins was a "great debater" and "actually better than [National MP] Chris Bishop in Parliament".
He said Bishop may be a bit "upset" about that.
Luxon was asked if he had been spreading misinformation by previously suggesting Hipkins was a "champion university debater". Hipkins' office has said the Labour leader didn't debate at school or university.
"He's not a champion university debater? He didn't do debating at university? Oh, my goodness, OK, alright."
