East Coast Bays MP Erica Stanford says the National Party isn't focused on anyone else, as questions continue about whether working with New Zealand First after October's election is a possibility.
Newshub-Reid Research polling this week showed NZ First had risen 1.1 points to 4 percent, inching closer to the 5 percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. The party only received 2.6 percent of the vote in the 2020 election and was booted from the Beehive.
Asked when or if National leader Christopher Luxon was going to rule out working with NZ First leader and former deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Stanford said her party didn't "enter into those conversations".
"We're actually just interested in maximising our party vote," she told AM.
"If you want a good, stable Government - party vote National."
AM host Ryan Bridge asked Stanford why National was refusing to work with Te Pāti Māori - sitting on 2.7 percent in the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll - but wouldn't rule out NZ First.
The Māori Party re-entered Parliament after the 2020 election. Despite only garnering 1.2 percent of the vote, the party got two seats in the Beehive due to co-leader Rawiri Waititi winning the Waiariki electorate.
"That's a different kettle of fish," Stanford said of National ruling out Te Pāti Māori.
"I'm not involved in any of those conversations but I can tell you the Māori Party has made some claims, in some of the things that they want to do, you can tell are worlds apart from where we sit."
National wouldn't need NZ First but would require the fellow right-bloc party ACT to form a Government based on the Newshub-Reid Research poll. ACT leader David Seymour on Thursday ruled out working with Peters and NZ First.
Based on the poll, National and ACT would get a combined 63 seats v the left bloc's (Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori) 57. Sixty-two seats is the threshold needed to form a Government.
Labour won the party vote at the 2020 election in a landslide and was able to form a majority Government.
But the party this week dived back down into the low 30s, giving the left bloc no path to power, based on the poll.
Labour MP Ginny Andersen described the poll result as still "pretty close".
"We've always known right from the start that we'll be fighting for every single vote," she said. "We need to continue to demonstrate to New Zealanders that we want to do this and, to be frank, we have been a bit off target over the last few weeks - I think that poll reflects that."
Andersen told AM on Friday there was one pleasing aspect of the poll - that being leader Chris Hipkins' popularity rising despite his party plummeting.
"People trust Chippy (Hipkins), they think he's a good Prime Minister right now and that's actually stacking up."
