New Zealand’s National and Labour in dead heat days before election, poll shows

Nov 3 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s ruling National party and centre-left opposition Labour are ​neck-and-neck in the final days before ‌Saturday’s general election, according to the latest opinion polling.

• The final 1News Verian poll ​released on Tuesday put the ​conservative National Party at 30%, up ⁠one point, narrowly ahead of ​Labour, which gained two points to 29%
• The ​Greens were up one point to 16%
• ACT and NZ First, currently in a coalition ​with National, were both down ​two points to 10% and 8%, respectively
• The centrist ‌Opportunity ⁠party was unchanged at 6%
• Te Pati Maori was up 0.3 points to 0.4%
• The numbers mean either a right ​coalition ​with National, ⁠ACT and NZ First, or a left bloc with ​Labour, the Greens and Te ​Pati ⁠Maori, would need support from Opportunity to form a government
• New Zealand uses ⁠a ​mixed-member proportional system, which ​tends to favour coalition governments

Reporting by Christine Chen ​in Sydney; Editing by Saad Sayeed