Duelling Chrises gear up for NZ election

New Zealanders have been treated to - or perhaps endured - a test run of their election, as alternative prime ministers toured their old stomping grounds.

Kiwis go to the polls on October 14, when two men called Chris will compete for the country's top job in what is shaping to be a hyper-close election.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins returned to his Hutt Valley roots, with a trip to Upper and Lower Hutt, the northern suburbs of Wellington.

At the same time, Opposition Leader Chris Luxon was in Canterbury where he grew up, visiting a school on the outskirts of Christchurch and farmers on Banks Peninsula.

In the Hutt, Mr Hipkins visited a marae in his electorate, his old school in the Lower Hutt suburb of Waterloo.

Somewhat dangerously, the PM took questions from the crowd of primary school students, revealing his favourite colour (red), food (pasta) and sport (cricket), but couldn't answer some other curly questions.

"I don't really have a favourite car," he said, disappointing one young Kiwi.

He also revealed he was sent to the principal's office twice, but couldn't remember what for, and struggled to name the hardest thing he'd ever overcome in your life.

"I've never been really good at maths, which we now establish on a daily basis. I'll think about that," he said.

Mr Hipkins then took journalists to his favourite pie shop nearby, ordering a steak and cheese pie and a coke zero, indulging the braying Kiwi press pack to take a bite before jumping in his car.

Down south, Mr Luxon wasn't to be outdone, posting on Facebook that he was "sharing a brisket bbq" with farmers in Ataahua.

"National backs farmers like we back the All Blacks," he said.

"I reckon that needs to be the way we all treat agriculture in New Zealand ... National is proud of what they do for our country."

The day felt like a test run for the election campaign, which will get underway proper when parliament is dissolved at the end of August.

Polls show a tight race, reset in Labour's favour by Mr Hipkins taking over the leadership from Jacinda Ardern.

While National had established itself as a regular poll leader in late 2022, in eight polls taken since Mr Hipkins took over, Labour has led in six, with National ahead in one, and another tied.

On all of those results, neither Labour or National would be able to form a government in their own right, and would need to form a coalition with minor parties.

The best news for Labour appears to be a widening of the gap between Mr Hipkins and Mr Luxon as the preferred prime minister of Kiwis.

In the most recent survey, conducted by pollster Talbot Mills, Mr Hipkins boasted a 16-point lead over Mr Luxon.

Labour insiders believe Kiwis have warmed to Mr Hipkins' background and down-to-earth nature, which is all tied to his Hutt Valley upbringing.

Mr Hipkins' electorate of Remutaka, in Upper Hutt, is a no-nonsense lower socio-economic area.

With cost of living at the top of the list of New Zealanders' issues of concern, Labour is keen to accentuate his Hutt credentials: hence Tuesday's itinerary.

Mr Hipkins said growing up in the Hutt Valley gave him "an ability to relate to the day-to-day lives that other people are living even if they're not necessarily the life that I'm living right at the moment".

"I think one of the things that I have ingrained in my DNA from growing up in the Hutt... is that hard work would bring reward.

"I want to make sure that that degree of social mobility, the opportunity to work hard and get ahead, is still available to New Zealand."