The figures suggest otherwise, but Mark Osborne is brimming with confidence.

National's candidate in the Northland by-election is rejecting poll numbers which indicate he's trailing Winston Peters by a hefty margin.

He told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that's not the feeling he's getting on the street.

"People are coming up to us on the street as opposed to us going up to them, and talking about the fears of Winston and the positive things that we can do and making sure that we can carry that on."