Mixed coalition prospects - poll

ONE NEWS: An overwhelming majority of New Zealanders believe that the party with the most votes should get to lead the government.
The latest ONE News Colmar Brunton poll suggests there could be a backlash if Labour comes a distant second to National but still forms a multi-party coalition.

There is a real fear that a string of minor parties may help influence the election outcome and get Labour back into power.
Even if National gets tens of thousands more votes than Labour, Helen Clark could still cobble together a multi-party coalition from second place.

But nearly 80% of people think that the party with the most votes should be the one that gets to lead the government, with just 15% disagreeing.

"We'll certainly be arguing very strongly that the largest party has the moral mandate to put together a government that is the will of the New Zealand people and I think all political parties would be sensible to consider that," says National Party leader John Key.

Key says it will be a five-headed monster if Labour does take power, but he believes history is on his side.

"All of the last four MMP elections have reflected that the largest party formed the government and I think that just reflects the will of the people. It's called democracy," says Key.

But Labour Party leader Helen Clark sees democracy working quite differently.

"If those who want to be in a government where Labour is the major party command the majority support of the parliament, there should of course be a Labour-led government," says Clark.

ONE News also asked voters whether they would like to see National or Labour take charge alone without needing any coalition partners.

Forty-seven-percent wanted one of the major parties to govern alone - a dead heat with those who want National or Labour to govern in coalition with other parties.

Clark says this is old first-past-the-post thinking.

"There's not going to be a winner-takes-all-government, there is going to be a government led by the party that can put together, a community of interest of parties," says Clark.

And there will be considerable interest from the voting community about whether they get the government they feel they voted for.

The minor parties will be attending the ONE News leaders' debate on Monday evening.

The debate is considered very significant for the parties because they don't get much attention during the election campaigning, with Labour and National getting nearly all the air time.

The debate can also help a party that is trailing in the polls.

Back in 2002, UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne came out as the winner in the minor parties' debate, helping him gain eight MPs in parliament.

This year, it's important for NZ First Party leader Winston Peters, who unlike the other party leaders, is without an electorate seat and desperately needs to get above the 5% threshold. Latest polls show he is still trailing behind that mark.