Tonight on the Huddle, Auckland Councillor and former National Minister Maurice Williamson and Host of Saturday Mornings and Q&A Jack Tame join Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the days' big issues. 

On the table tonight: National are looking up in the polls, what's caused this boost to their numbers?

"Should child sex offenders be jailed for life?" was a question brought up in last night's Stuff Leaders debate. Heather asks the Huddle for their thoughts.

And how do you stop base jumpers from throwing themselves off rooftops?

LISTEN ABOVE

Tonight on the Huddle, Auckland Councillor and former National Minister Maurice Williamson and Host of Saturday Mornings and Q&amp;A Jack Tame join Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the days' big issues.&nbsp;
On the table tonight: National are looking up in the polls, what's caused this boost to their numbers?
"Should child sex offenders be jailed for life?" was a question brought up in last night's Stuff Leaders debate. Heather asks the Huddle for their thoughts.
And how do you stop base jumpers from throwing themselves off rooftops?
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

The Huddle: Why are the Nats back on the rise in the polls?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/58f43186-732d-4aa5-bbcd-b4ea005bb719/transcript

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 21 October, 2026, Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins both say they're open to life sentences for child abusers. But is it a good idea?

A firefighter tells us how difficult it was to rescue a base jumper whose leap from a central Auckland hotel went wrong.
 
Daryl Mitchell on how pumped the Blackcaps are about facing powerhouse India in Christchurch at the start of a bumper cricket season.

And on The Huddle, Maurice Williamson and Jack Tame on how much we can read into the Nats' boost in the latest poll.
 
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

LISTEN ABOVE

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 21 October, 2026, Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins both say they're open to life sentences for child abusers. But is it a good idea?
A firefighter tells us how difficult it was to rescue a base jumper whose leap from a central Auckland hotel went wrong. &nbsp; Daryl Mitchell on how pumped the Blackcaps are about facing powerhouse India in Christchurch at the start of a bumper cricket season.
And on The Huddle, Maurice Williamson and Jack Tame on how much we can read into the Nats' boost in the latest poll. &nbsp; Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
LISTEN ABOVE

Full Show Podcast: 21 October 2026 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/59bbc660-97c9-4b8f-b825-b4ea0066c111/transcript

All right, it was either a rogue poll, or it was the moment National started to win this election. I think there's a good chance it's the latter.

If National is now winning the election, it will be because they have finally started talking about the things they're good at: education and crime. Thank you very much to the Mongrel Mob for the latter. Not that annoying "nine new taxes" nonsense that wasn't working.

Now, I don't want to say "I told them so" but you heard me tell them so, right?

They've gone from being neck and neck with Labour for weeks to suddenly pulling ahead, 32% to 27%. They were never going to win on the "nine new taxes" stuff. It was too boring and was repeated too often. More importantly, they were never going to win on the broader topic of the economy because that is no longer their strength.

Apart from farmers and people in rural areas, no one in the cities feels better off under National than they did under Labour. Their finance spokesperson does not have a track record worth campaigning on.

The other notable thing in the poll is that Opportunity has slipped slightly, from 8% in last week's One News Verian poll to 7% this week. That's not a big deal on its own but it is becoming a pattern. They fell in the Post-Freshwater Strategy poll from 6% to 5.4%. They are now under 5% in the Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll and that should worry Opportunity because they are now the difference between the centre-right winning outright and not winning.

If Opportunity crashes out and takes a large wasted vote with it, Luxon is home safe on election night.

For that reason, I'm preparing to eat my words on the claim that Luxon made a misjudgment by consistently ruling Opportunity out. He may well have been right. If they don't make it in, then he was right all along to try to push them below 5% and he was right to hold his nerve every single time he was asked to repeat that position.

It's a big call, though, because they are still mostly polling above 5% but they are now getting dangerously close to that threshold.

Either way, this may be the start of Luxon winning. If National keeps trending up and Opportunity keeps hovering around 5%, the path to victory becomes much clearer.

LISTEN ABOVE

All right, it was either a rogue poll, or it was the moment National started to win this election. I think there's a good chance it's the latter.
If National is now winning the election, it will be because they have finally started talking about the things they're good at: education and crime. Thank you very much to the Mongrel Mob for the latter. Not that annoying "nine new taxes" nonsense that wasn't working.
Now, I don't want to say "I told them so" but you heard me tell them so, right?
They've gone from being neck and neck with Labour for weeks to suddenly pulling ahead, 32% to 27%. They were never going to win on the "nine new taxes" stuff. It was too boring and was repeated too often. More importantly, they were never going to win on the broader topic of the economy because that is no longer their strength.
Apart from farmers and people in rural areas, no one in the cities feels better off under National than they did under Labour. Their finance spokesperson does not have a track record worth campaigning on.
The other notable thing in the poll is that Opportunity has slipped slightly, from 8% in last week's One News Verian poll to 7% this week. That's not a big deal on its own but it is becoming a pattern. They fell in the Post-Freshwater Strategy poll from 6% to 5.4%. They are now under 5% in the Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll and that should worry Opportunity because they are now the difference between the centre-right winning outright and not winning.
If Opportunity crashes out and takes a large wasted vote with it, Luxon is home safe on election night.
For that reason, I'm preparing to eat my words on the claim that Luxon made a misjudgment by consistently ruling Opportunity out. He may well have been right. If they don't make it in, then he was right all along to try to push them below 5% and he was right to hold his nerve every single time he was asked to repeat that position.
It's a big call, though, because they are still mostly polling above 5% but they are now getting dangerously close to that threshold.
Either way, this may be the start of Luxon winning. If National keeps trending up and Opportunity keeps hovering around 5%, the path to victory becomes much clearer.
LISTEN ABOVE

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Is this the moment National started to win the election?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/fdfc752e-90c7-4afa-b635-b4ea006ac931/transcript

The National Party has gained four points, building to a five-point lead over Labour in the latest 1News Verian poll. 

This is the Nats' strongest result since February, but Labour are at their lowest since the last election. 

Labour Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds dismissed this poll, saying 'we are focused on the things that New Zealanders are saying that matters to them.'

LISTEN ABOVE

The National Party has gained four points, building to a five-point lead over Labour in the latest 1News Verian poll.&nbsp;
This is the Nats' strongest result since February, but Labour are at their lowest since the last election.&nbsp;
Labour Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds dismissed this poll, saying 'we are focused on the things that New Zealanders are saying that matters to them.'
LISTEN ABOVE

Barbara Edmonds: Labour Finance Spokesperson brushes off poll showing Labour down to 27%

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/bd0026de-ee42-442e-952a-b4ea006974e0/transcript

The Huddle: Why are the Nats back on the rise in the polls?

In 1 playlist(s)

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips