LEADERS’ DEBATE
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Luxon vs Hipkins leaders debate: What once was a ‘crisis’ is now a ‘challenge’
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): Chris and Chris fought each other but forgot to fight their vote-stealing friends
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): Leaders debate: night of the possibly living dead
Giles Dexter (RNZ): What we learned from the first leaders’ debate
Henry Cooke (Post): Leaders debate: Hipkins wins on points as neither Chris lands knockout blow (paywalled)
Jo Moir (RNZ): Chris v Chris: Are they still playing in the major party league?
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Hipkins edges Luxon on relatability in first 2026 election leaders’ debate
Newsroom: Blinder or blowout? Newsroom’s leaders’ debate takeaways
Thomas Coughlan, Audrey Young, Adam Pearse and Shayne Currie (Herald): Election 2026: Herald experts pick which Chris won the TVNZ Leaders’ Debate (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): National on track to lose and Christopher Luxon’s debate performance didn’t help (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Behind the scenes of Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins leaders debate - what happened in the studio? (paywalled)
Justin Hu (1News): Leaders debate: Luxon, Hipkins fire up over cost of living, trust, racism
Mike Houlahan (ODT): The battle to be Mr Relevant (paywalled)
Chris Lynch: Two Chrises battle for a country looking elsewhere
Richard Prebble: Does winning the leaders’ debate matter?
Bryan Bruce: Last night’s Leader’s Debate (paywalled)
Herald: Christopher Luxon, Chris Hipkins face off in debate
POLLS
1News: Poll: Opportunity still in kingmaker seat as Greens hold strong
RNZ: National’s path to power narrows in new poll
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): The centre vote has collapsed. National and Labour have 4 weeks to pick up the pieces
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Opportunity again the kingmaker as both blocs tie in latest poll
Roy Morgan: In September National-led Government increases lead over Labour-led Parliamentary Opposition (52% vs. 41.5%)
Grant Duncan (The Conversation): NZ’s next government could be a four-party coalition. Get used to the new normal
Herald: Power remains in Opportunity’s hands in latest 1News-Verian poll
Nick James (Post): Latest poll has National and Labour neck and neck (paywalled)
Stuff: National’s poll numbers slip drastically, Labour also take a hit
Herald: Election 2026: Chris Hipkins says Labour picking up momentum despite poll drop
ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND PARTIES
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Labour is reneging on its pay equity promise
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): The ease with which parties flip policies to fit a billboard doesn’t bode well for post-election trust (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Would anyone like to be the prime minister?
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Hipkins camp’s near miss with (too many) swing voters
Henry Cooke (Post): National’s polling problem: No new tactics? (paywalled)
Peter Williams: There’s the Bloody Ball. Use it!
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Walking with Winston: The NZ First leader takes his campaign to the streets (and malls) of the North Shore
Katie Bradford (Herald): Labour voter confronts Chris Hipkins over jobs crisis
Layla Bailey-McDowell and Coco Lance (RNZ): Do young people understand the power of the youth vote?
Finn Hogan (Stuff): The first AI election is here, so far, everyone is losing
Keith Rankin: Negative Campaigning And Strategic Voting
Zoran Rakovic: Anything Except That
Tara Ward (Spinoff): From rosettes and pamphlets to promotional condoms: Inside the world of election ephemera
Herald: Tune in to the NZ Herald Future of New Zealand Debate live at 7pm tonight
69 more articles for paid subscribers today, covering tax and costings, the public service, the Māori electorates, the Greens, key electorate races, the Opportunity Party, National’s foreign aid cuts, defence, the economy and health. Highlights include the $90m mistake the Taxpayers’ Union found in Labour’s fiscal plan, Chlöe Swarbrick telling Labour to stop being “wimps” on tax, and a lobbyist’s own account of how lobbying tactics have become perverse. A paid sub gets you every News Briefing and Democracy Briefing in full.