Opposition party wins New Zealand election

The opposition National Party has won the New Zealand election, taking enough seats to form a coalition with its allies on the right wing of politics.

Incumbent prime minister Chris Hipkins, of Labour, phoned National’s leader Chris Luxon to concede defeat.

Mr Luxon thanked National voters and said they had “reached for hope” and “voted for change”.

It marks a rapid elevation for Mr Luxon, who became an MP in 2020 and National leader only a year later.

The New Zealand Herald reported that National was projected to win 50 seats with around 39% of the vote.

That tally combined with the 11 projected seats of Act, a natural ally on the right, would give it the thinnest of majorities in what looks likely to be a 121-seat parliament.

Labour was projected to win 33 seats, the Greens 13, Act 12, NZ First 8 and Te Pāti Māori four. Around 96% of votes have been counted.

“I am immensely proud to say that on the numbers tonight, National will be able to lead the next government,” said Mr Luxon, a former airline executive, after National’s projected victory was announced.

“My pledge to you is that our government will deliver for every New Zealander,” he said, adding that he would “build the economy and deliver tax relief”.

“We will bring down the cost of living. We will restore law and order,” he said.

“We will deliver better health care and we will educate our children so that they can grow up to live the lives they dream of.”

However, a National-Act coalition would only have a slim majority, meaning Mr Luxon may need to secure the support of NZ First, whose leader Winston Peters has been kingmaker in previous Labour and National-led coalitions.

Mr Hipkins, who replaced Jacinda Ardern in January, thanked supporters for their campaign work, and said the result was “not one that any of us wanted”.

He told party members in the capital Wellington that he wanted them to “be proud of what we achieved over the last six years”.

Some of Mr Luxon’s key election campaign promises included tax cuts for middle-income earners, a crackdown on youth offending, a ban on phones in schools, and the scrapping of the Labour government’s plan to raise fuel taxes.