Updated 3.27pm: John Key suspects the critics he met on his campaign trail today were put up by his political opponents.

In the Hutt Valley this morning, two women separately shared their concerns about state housing and a lack of jobs, while a man in Paraparaumu had Mr Key’s ear about student allowances.

The National Party leader is downplaying today’s tough crowds - saying he takes their messages with a grain of salt, and suggesting a union van parked down the road from one event was involved.

John Key's had to move a planned media conference out of the centre of Palmerston North, after being confronted by rowdy protesters.

A group of about 15 people, some of them carrying Internet Mana flags, chanted '"John Key out" as the National Party leader stepped off his campaign bus in The Square.

Another group of teens yelled at Mr Key, that they were sick of him making his rich mates richer while they were poor.

John Key was in Palmerston North to promote National's candidate, the local mayor Jono Naylor, who is tipped to unseat Labour's MP this weekend.

National's Napier candidate is hoping John Key's visit this afternoon will give his campaign a last minute boost.

Mr Key will be on his National Party bus when it gets into Napier around 5 o'clock.

Wayne Walford is welcoming the arrival, as he knuckles down for a tight battle against Labour's Stuart Nash and Conservative Party candidate Garth McVicar.

He says it's the fourth time John Key has come to Napier and he appreciates that level of support.