There are signs of a change of government in New Zealand. The previously conservative opposition National Party won the most votes in today’s parliamentary elections. According to preliminary calculations by the electoral commission, together with its preferred coalition partner, the right-wing liberal ACT, the party of the main candidate, Christopher Luxon, would have enough seats to form a government.
Previous Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of the Social Democratic Labor Party said he had already admitted his defeat to Luxon in a telephone conversation.
In 2020 “Absolute” for the Social Democrats
In 2020, the Labor Party achieved an absolute majority under Hipkin’s predecessor Jacinda Ardern. Since then, however, the party has lost support, due, among other things, to the rapid increase in the cost of living and the rejection of long confinement during the pandemic. Ardern resigned unexpectedly at the start of the year and was replaced shortly afterwards by Hipkins.
After 97.5 percent of the votes were counted, Labor received 26.8 percent of the vote in the election and the National Party received 39.06 percent. 10.75 percent of voters voted for the Greens and around nine percent for the ACT. However, the final result will not be announced until all votes and special ballots cast abroad have been counted. This is not expected before November 3rd.