Labour Holds Lead on Top Five Issues as National Closes Gap
Labour is still rated the party best able to handle all five top issues, but National has narrowed the gap on four of them, according to the September 2026 Ipsos Issues Monitor.
Think of salience as the worry list and capability as the trust score.
Cost of living and healthcare
Cost of living was again the top concern. The share naming it, what pollsters call salience, was at its highest since May 2023, according to RNZ. On who can best handle it, both Labour and National fell four points since July. The gap is unchanged at 10 points in Labour's favour.
Healthcare stayed second, with concern up six points. Labour was named most capable by 38%, a 17-point lead over National. That is down from a 21-point gap in July. Labour fell three points and National rose one.
Economy, jobs and housing
The economy ranked third. Labour fell four points and National fell two on capability. The gap narrowed from four points in July to two points. In its release titled 34th Ipsos NZ Issues Monitor - Sept 2026, Ipsos summed up the pattern as Labour still leading on all five top issues while the gap narrowed on four of the five, including healthcare and hospitals, according to Ipsos.
Unemployment rose from fifth to fourth. National held steady at 21% on capability. Labour fell from 42% to 34%. The gap now stands at 13 points.
Housing dropped from fourth to fifth. Labour fell four points and National rose one point. Labour's lead narrowed from 13 to eight points.
Other issues, tax and method
Beyond the top five, Labour led on 10 of the other 15 issues, down from 11 in July. National led on crime and defence. The Greens led on climate change and the environment. Te Pāti Māori led on Māori issues.
Tax was named by 8% of people, up from 6% in July. Labour led as most capable on tax by three points. Support for a 2.5% wealth tax on assets above $10 million, excluding family homes, stood at 64%. Support for a capital gains tax on property sales excluding the family home stood at 45%.
The survey ran through online panels from 3 to 11 September with 1,003 New Zealanders aged 18 and over. Ipsos reports a credibility interval, its margin for error, of plus or minus 3.5 points. That range works like a buffer around each number.
The broader context here is familiar to people who follow campaigns. Concern is rising on cost of living and healthcare, while ratings for both major parties are softening or flat.
In my view, the unemployment and housing shifts need close reading alongside the fieldwork dates. The reordering is about public concern, not just handling scores, and several one-to-four point moves sit close to the survey's margin for error.
