A new opinion poll finds few New Zealanders can name the Queen as New Zealand’s head of state, with most thinking the Governor-General is our head of state. The poll of 1,000 voting-age New Zealanders, taken in May 2020, asked: “Can you please tell me who is New Zealand’s Head of State?”

The results were:

• The Queen: 18%
• The Governor-General: 32%
• The Prime Minister: 25%
• Don’t know: 25%

“The results of this poll show us that only a very small number of New Zealanders know that the Queen is our head of state. That is bad news for the monarchy” said Lewis Holden, Campaign Chair of New Zealand Republic.

“One in three New Zealanders think that the role is fulfilled by the Governor-General. It’s not hard to see why - it’s the Governor-General who does all the work of our head of state. New Zealand Republic’s view is that the office should be transitioned into our actual head of state, through a process of first putting in place an appointment method, and then a referendum.”

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