Shane Jones is confident "underdog" New Zealand First will make a comeback, describing a recent poll suggesting low support for him in Northland as "a call to action".
Jones is campaigning to win Northland from Matt King, the National MP who currently holds it - but a Colmar Brunton poll on Sunday placed Jones in a distant third place behind King and Labour's candidate Willow-Jean Prime.
Speaking to Magic Talk on Monday - hosted by former National Party deputy leader Paula Bennett - Jones described the poll as a "call to action" and asked his supporters to give two ticks to New Zealand First on September 19.
"The reality is that New Zealand First is a party that exists on the basis of getting over 5 percent. I think that I will magnetise lots of votes up home, the campaign starts today," Jones said.
"In a sense we're fully unshackled from our constitution of responsibilities... Our party is always regarded as something of an outsider or an underdog, and we can only go one way, that's up."
Bennett asked Jones if he's still confident about winning Northland.
"Interesting that you're not talking about winning the seat of Northland anymore... You were certain you were going to win it... You're not talking like that anymore. You don't think you're going to win Northland?"
Jones said it was a reminder to his voter-base.
"No I just want to remind everyone that if you want to shape and change the character of the Government, rather than have a Labour-only Government or Labour-Green Government... I'm out there to win Northland, obviously, and I think the poll you refer to, really it's a call to action.
"If you want to be at the centre of the next Government, then send Shane Jones back to Parliament as your member. If you want New Zealand First to be a permanent feature of the parliamentary landscape, then give us your party vote. It's as simple as that."
Despite Jones overseeing the $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund which has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Northland, the Colmar Brunton poll had him on 15 percent in Northland, behind Prime on 31 percent and King on 46 percent.
King won the Northland seat at the 2017 election with 38 percent of the vote, beating New Zealand First leader Winston Peters who got 34 percent.
King told Magic Talk he thinks the reason he's ahead in the poll is because the Government hasn't been fair to the farming community.
"One of the reasons is this Government have not been friendly to the farmer and this is a big farming community. I think they've upset a lot of people. That's one factor," he said.
"I also think they're not going to be bought. They can see that [the Provincial Growth Fund] is pork barrel on steroids and they're not going to fall for that. That's the second thing.
"The third, I guess, is that I've been working really hard following your advice and working really hard from the day I got elected."
That advice from Bennett was: "You cannot afford to slack off for one minute because if you do that, that's when you'll find out that you're not going to make the grade."
King is "heartened" by the poll results, but said it's only a snapshot.
"I'm working probably the hardest I've ever done along with other MPs - we're all out there doing it, but I'm just going hard because it's a privilege to be the MP and I take it really seriously and I don't want to give up the fight."
Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern has ruled out doing a deal in Northland to give Labour's votes to New Zealand First.
"We've said that we wouldn't, and actually New Zealand First hasn't asked," she said on Sunday.
The last Newshub-Reid Research poll had New Zealand First on just 2 percent, which means if Jones fails to win the Northland seat his party will not make it back to Parliament.
