OPINION: Luxon should not bow down to negative polls. 

What a weekend it’s been for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. 

And strangely enough, the whole situation really kicked off right here on this show on Friday morning with a little chat with Nicola Willis. 

The results of the poll were out, people were talking about miserable they were, the Nicola Willis interview kicked it off. 

It started the conversation again — a question about pressure and about how bad a poll has to be before a change in leadership is talked about — and then suddenly it grew legs.  

By the afternoon it was on national television, it was on Heather du Plessis-Allan’s show, and the Prime Minister himself was fronting it. 

And he said it clearly - he is absolutely not stepping down. 

Now I’ve got to tell you something honestly — all Friday afternoon I kept thinking to myself, good. I hope he doesn’t quit. 

Because look around the world right now. Everywhere you go, people are unhappy with the leader they’ve got.  

Why? Governments are being hammered by economic pressure, global instability, wars, the aftershocks of the pandemic, and recession.

It’s not exactly an easy time to be in charge of a country. 

The latest polling hasn’t been kind to Luxon.  

A Freshwater Strategy poll reported by The Post shows 51% of voters say he should be replaced as National Party leader, while only 36% believe he should stay.  

Now, another survey from Curia Market Research put the New Zealand National Party at 28.4% support, its lowest level under Luxon.

So yes, there’s pressure. 

But here’s the thing that really struck me over the weekend — most of that push for change isn’t coming from National voters. 

The polling shows 67% of National supporters still back Luxon, and 60% of ACT voters support him too.  

The loudest calls for him to go are coming from Labour, Green, and Te Pāti Māori supporters. 

Which raises a pretty obvious question. 

Why on earth would a governing party sack its leader because the opposition wants them gone? Of course they want them gone, they'' want anyone gone. 

And then we get into the horse-race stuff. If Luxon were pushed out, the poll says Chris Bishop would be the most preferred replacement on 18%, followed by Nicola Willis on 11%, Erica Stanford on 10%, and Mark Mitchell on 9%. 

But here’s my view. 

Changing Prime Minister in the middle of a tough economic recovery is exactly the kind of instability New Zealand does not need right now. 

We’ve come through COVID. We’ve been through inflation. We’ve had interest rates crushing households.  We've had a recession. We've had tariffs. 

Globally we’re watching wars in the Middle East and instability all over the world. 

This is not the moment for political musical chairs. 

So, my message to Christopher Luxon is pretty simple this morning. 

Don’t quit. 
Don’t wobble. 
Don’t let the noise get to you. 

I want you to - front up. Stand up. Be stronger. 

New Zealand doesn’t need another leadership drama right now. 

What it needs is steady leadership — even if it’s not perfect — while the country gets itself back on track. 

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