MEDIA RELEASE 21 April 2012

Support For King Charles Declining

"A poll commissioned by the Republican Movement and published today has found that support for Charles to become King is declining, especially amongst women" said Lewis Holden, chair of the Republican Movement.

A poll of 1,000 eligible voters found 51% supported Charles as King, a decline from 54% in a poll at the same time last year. This result was underpinned by a decline of support for King Charles amongst women to 52% from 58% last year. Support for a New Zealand republic amongst all New Zealanders rose to 36%.

The result substantially reduces the disparity between female and male support for Charles that was observed in polling in the previous two years. It suggests the fickleness of support for the monarchy. It seems to be only based on the attention it receives in New Zealand's media.

"The Republican Movement believes New Zealanders should have a say on who their head of state is, and how they're elected. That will require a national conversation on where we're headed - and the time to start that conversation is now" concluded Mr Holden.
NOTES

The phone poll of 1,053 voting-age New Zealanders was conducted between 29 March - 13 April 2012. The question asked was:

"When the Queen dies, which option would you prefer: Prince Charles becoming King of New Zealand or New Zealand to becoming a republic?"

The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.2%. The poll was commissioned by the Republican Movement and undertaken by Curia Market Research Limited. For more opinion polls, see our page on polling: www.republic.org.nz/polling
ENDS

© Scoop Media