Christopher Luxon, the Prime Minister elect, has concluded negotiations with New Zealand First and ACT New Zealand. The National Party leader led his party to a decisive result on election day, and on November 23, sealed a deal to form government with ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First. The incoming Prime Minister expects to hold a signing ceremony on Nov. 24 following all three parties signing their deals.
Mr. Luxon shared, “Those agreements are now before the parties for ratification, which we hope to have this evening, at which point I will talk again to the governor general and formally confirm that we are able to form a government.” Although he was tight lipped for now on specific details of the deal, he has promised “when you see the agreements tomorrow (Nov. 24) you’ll see how comprehensive they are.”
A swearing in ceremony of a new cabinet is planned for Monday after an announcement on the makeup of the leadership team on November 24 afternoon. National Party won 48 seats at the election, ACT New Zealand won 11 seats and New Zealand First gained 8 seats.
The Labour Party picked up 34 seats, Green Party won 15 seats and Te Pāti Māori got 6 seats at the election. Subject to agreement by all parties, the new government will hold a signing ceremony at Parliament on Nov. 24.
It is still unclear whether ACT leader David Seymour or NZ First Winston Peters will take the Deputy Prime Minister position. Former National Party Prime Minister Jim Bolger suggested that Mr. Peters would be the best person for the role based on his level of experience.
The deal on the future government comes nearly six weeks after election day, after there was a delay while 500,000 “special votes” were counted. Christopher Luxon, who is a former corporate executive, has been keeping details of the negotiations behind closed doors rather than discussing them in the media.