Kiwis split on Kim Dotcom, but united in verdict on John Banks - poll

New Zealanders are split on Kim Dotcom but are highly negative towards John Banks, according to a UMR Research poll released today.

UMR’s fortnightly Omnibus survey shows:

• 38% of New Zealanders polled have favourable opinions of Kim Dotcom, while 36% view him unfavourably.  24% have no opinion of the controversial internet millionaire, while 2% claim never to have heard of him.  There is a clear gender difference, 50% of men have favourable opinions of Kim Dotcom, compared with just 27% of women.
   

• Just 14% of New Zealanders polled view John Banks favourably, with 71% viewing him unfavourably.  13% are unsure and 2% say they have never heard of him.  By comparison, in December 2011 his favourability rating was 27% favourable 56% unfavourable.

• Dotcom is clearly more popular than Banks even in Banks’ home area of Auckland.  43% of Aucklanders have favourable opinions of Kim Dotcom, while 17% of Aucklanders view John Banks favourably.

Mr Banks ran into political trouble after Kim Dotcom claimed the (then) mayoral candidate had solicited a $50,000 donation, and suggested he split the amount into two cheques. In his electoral return, Mr Banks said the donation was anonymous.

Since he broke cover with the July 25 "swim at Kim's," Mr Dotcom has been on a wide-ranging PR campaign, appearing at a number of public events, and pushing his cause through social media. Photos of guns and antics have been replaced by pictures of the German millionaire and his family.

Third most unpopular in UMR ratings history
UMR has been tracking favourability ratings for the leaders of almost all parliamentary parties since 1996.  The only two party leaders to have ever recorded worse ratings than Mr Banks’ current rating are Winston Peters (in 1997) and Tau Henare (in 1999, when he was leader of Mauri Pacific), both at times when they too were accused of cynically manipulating the electoral system.

UMR Research Director Gavin White said “the numbers show that New Zealanders take a dim view of politicians who they see as cynically manipulating the electoral system for their own ends.  The tea-tape fiasco and controversy about so-called anonymous donations to the 2010 mayoral campaign have clearly painted John Banks in this light.”

The UMR Research nationwide Omnibus survey was conducted 27th September to 2nd October.  It has a nationally representative sample of 750 New Zealanders 18 years and over.  The margin of error for a 50% figure at the ‘95% confidence level’ is +/- 3.6%.