New Zealand’s two major parties are flatlining as dispirited voters seek transformational change
Voters sent National and Labour a clear message last night – and the parties have no one to blame but themselves
TL;DR
- Major parties Labour and National received their lowest combined vote share ever, with 70% of voters choosing other parties.
- Transformational minor parties like ACT, the Greens, and New Zealand First achieved their best results, alongside Te Pāti Māori holding expected seats.
- The election outcome remains uncertain pending the count of hundreds of thousands of special votes, primarily impacting seat allocation.
- Labour secured 29.3% of party votes, and National 29.2%, resulting in a close race between the two.
- National faces significant losses of senior figures due to not securing any list seats because their electorate wins exceeded their party vote entitlement, creating an overhang.
- The final parliamentary numbers are influenced by overhang seats for National and Te Pāti Māori, increasing the total seats and the majority threshold.
- National is expected to form the government with ACT and NZ First, but will have a very slim, potentially precarious, one-seat majority.
- Chris Luxon previously ruled out working with the Opportunity party, but a shift in special votes could reconsider this decision.