Category Archives: New Zealand election 2023

Final New Zealand election results show National party will need populist NZ First to govern

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Centre-right party loses two seats in final tally and will need to rely on traditional partner Act as well as NZ First to form coalition

After weeks of political limbo, the final results of New Zealand’s election have been released showing the centre-right National party will need the support of the libertarian Act party and populist party New Zealand First to form a coalition government.

The governing Labour party was ejected from office after six years in the October election, with preliminary results handing a slim majority to National and its traditional coalition partner Act.

Reuters contributed to this report

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New Zealand Labour shed votes to the right but also the left – the price of a progressive policy bonfire

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The party’s supporters feel like it got a kicking from everyone. After a dire result, analysts pointed to its inability to meet its lofty aspirations

It was an assessment with a distinctly New Zealand flavour. “At the end of the day, there’s one unavoidable reality,” said Chris Hipkins, the defeated Labour prime minister, speaking to reporters after he conceded the country’s election on Saturday. “We lost because not enough people voted for us.”

But that was only part of it. Hipkins’ ruling, centre-left Labour party had crashed from the historic highs of its 2020 election result, in which it won 50% of the vote, to a dismal 27% on Saturday, nearly halving its seats in parliament. However, the punishing loss was not only a clear defeat by the right-leaning parties that will form the next government – the size and shape of which will be determined when a final vote tally is announced on 3 November; the blows also came from Labour’s left.

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Some of Jacinda Ardern’s legacy in New Zealand is safe. A lot of it isn’t | Henry Cooke

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Housing, workplace and some benefit reforms on the chopping block as centre-right National-led coalition forms government

The most common and cutting critique of Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government was that it couldn’t get anything done.

Transport was the best cudgel for this attack. Ardern came to power promising a light rail line in Auckland that six years later nobody has started to build. Tens of millions were spent on planning a bridge across the city’s harbour that ended up scrapped.

Henry Cooke is a freelance journalist covering New Zealand politics

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New Zealand election 2023: Labour and National make last-ditch pleas to voters on eve of poll

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Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon clash in heated final debate ahead of 14 October vote as left-leaning government trails right bloc in polls

The leaders of New Zealand’s two major political parties have made a last ditch effort to sway votes in their favour on the final day of campaigning before the country’s general election.

The leaders clashed in their most heated debate yet – the last of the campaign, which aired on TVNZ on Thursday night. In his final message, Labour’s Chris Hipkins warned the public that a vote for the opposition would bake in poverty and see action on climate change go backwards.

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Jacinda Ardern throws support behind Labour days before New Zealand election

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Former prime minister appealed to voters in Facebook video after being noticeably absent in lead up to 14 October election

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime-minister, has made an eleventh-hour appearance to throw her support behind the party she once led, just days out from the country’s general election.

Ardern, who was elected in 2017 on a wave of ‘Jacindamania’ and enjoyed extraordinary popularity for much of her leadership, led the governing party for nearly six years up until her shock resignation in January 2023. But the former leader has been noticeably absent in the lead up to the 14 October election.

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Guardian Essential New Zealand poll: Labour picks up steam days out from election

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Governing party still trails National as NZ First’s support grows, strengthening Winston Peters’ position in any rightwing coalition

Support for Labour has registered a burst of energy in a Guardian Essential poll days before the New Zealand election – but not enough to overcome an advance by the populist group New Zealand First, which is expected to propel a rightwing coalition to power.

The minor party’s steady climb in recent surveys threatens to vex what once appeared an easy route to victory for the right in Saturday’s election, after months of polls showed governing Labour languishing. Led by the maverick, veteran lawmaker Winston Peters, New Zealand First recorded 8.2% in October’s poll – which includes undecided voters in its total – up 2.2 points from September’s survey, and the party’s strongest showing of any major poll this year.

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New Zealand election: Luxon says National open to NZ First coalition

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National leader ends long-running question over whether party is prepared to work with Winston Peters

After months of prevarication, National leader Christopher Luxon has said he will pursue a coalition with Winston Peters’ New Zealand First after the October election, but only as a last resort.

Luxon even left open the prospect of a sensational return for Peters as deputy prime minister in declaring himself open to a deal with the politician.

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Why is Jacinda Ardern absent from New Zealand election campaign?

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Former PM became ‘lighting rod for discontent’ among some voters as analysts say her time in office associated with Covid fallout

As the final month of campaigning in New Zealand’s election begins, one figure is noticeably absent for observers abroad: former prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

Ardern dominated political life in New Zealand for five years, until her shock resignation in January 2023. Now, as she wrote on Instagram in April, she is “helpfully” at Harvard during New Zealand’s election campaign.

Ardern was elected in 2017 on a wave of Jacindamania and her extremely high popularity endured, carrying the Labour party under her leadership to a historic win in 2020. She enjoyed stratospheric popularity abroad too – featuring on the cover of Vogue and as a favourite guest of late-night talkshows in the US.

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Guardian Essential New Zealand poll: Winston Peters in position to become election kingmaker

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Latest survey sees support for New Zealand First exceed 5% for second month as Labour falters and National remains unchanged ahead of October election

Neither a Labour nor a National coalition could form a government without the support of populist minor party New Zealand First after the October election, according to the latest Guardian Essential political poll – which showed respondents unwilling to give either major party a commanding victory.

Since August, the governing Labour party slumped 2.5 points to 26.9% in the survey, which also recorded unsure voters – 5.3% in September – in its final result. But the results showed apathy towards both of the biggest parties, with centre-right National failing to pick up any speed from August, despite remaining ahead on 34.5%.

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New Zealand Labour’s support sinks to worst level in six years, poll finds

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Prime minister Chris Hipkins says Labour now ‘underdogs’ as National gains ground ahead of 14 October election

New Zealand’s Labour party is polling at its worst levels in 6 years, with prime minister Chris Hipkins saying they are now “underdogs” in the upcoming election.

If the results of the poll were repeated at the election, the left block would lose its large electoral majority, while also reducing the diversity of New Zealand’s parliament and replacing the gender parity currently held with a male majority.

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