ONE News Colmar Brunton Poll: April 09 

Source: NZPAJohn Key

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It might be wrestling with the biggest economic down-turn in 70 years, but the National-led government is riding a massive wave of popularity according to the latest ONE News Colmar Brunton Poll.

Despite some of National ministers needing to be reined in like Richard Worth's, whose private business trip to India had the opposition accusing him of both a cock-up and a conspiracy, it hasn't affected National's or PM John Key's popularity with the masses.

It is still sky high in the polls with 57%. Labour is well back on 31%, the Greens are on seven percent and the Maori Party and ACT both hovering around two percent.

Translating that to seats in Parliament, it gives National 70, Labour 37 and the Greens eight.

Assuming electorate seats are held the Maori Party has five seats, ACT two and United Future and the Progressives one seat each.

Labour attempted to look down to earth this month, taking a trip to its heartland in the West Coast and talking to locals in the various towns, but up in cyber space it didn't always look that way.

Labour MP David Cunliffe being parodied on the Twitter website on April 1st had the minister standing in parliament attacking National and right-wing bloggers of a conspiracy to malign him and the Labour Party.

"I have never had an account on the internet site Twitter. I have never sent a tweet and I have never even to my knowledge received a tweet," Cunliffe said.

John Key is on the top shelf as preferred Prime Minister with 51% of the vote and surprisingly Helen Clark, even though she has a new job at the UN, is still featured on the poll with nine percent of the people wanting her back as PM.

Just six percent believe Phil Goff, the new Labour Party leader, is the man for the top post.

Top job for the moment for John Key is wrestling with the economic down turn and New Zealanders are more optimistic about the economy.

Forty-two percent of people think things will get better over the next year while 19% say it will stay the same and 39% believe things will get worse.

That's a big jump in optimism though; perhaps the warm fuzzies coming from PM Key are rubbing off.