Conservative Christopher Luxon is in private negotiations with the ACT and New Zealand First parties to form a government in New Zealand. However, the final makeup of Parliament cannot be determined until over half a million special votes are counted. The New Zealand Electoral Commission is expected to fully count these special votes by November 3rd, which will include overseas postal votes. While Luxon received the majority of votes in the election on October 14th, the outcome may still change with the inclusion of special votes. It remains uncertain if Luxon will need to work with New Zealand First or if he can govern with his preferred coalition partner, ACT New Zealand.
New Zealand First, led by Winston Peters, has previously worked with both sides of politics but promised not to work with the Labour Party before the election. Labour leader Chris Hipkins conceded defeat on the election night after losing 31 seats based on preliminary results. Luxon has confirmed that Nicola Willis will be the finance minister in a new government, but negotiation details have been kept confidential. Luxon aims to build goodwill and establish a strong and stable government. Peters also remained silent and smiled when asked questions about the negotiations.
If a three-way coalition is formed, issues such as net zero, New Zealand’s relationship with China, MÄori co-governance, the economy, and environmental regulation may come into play. To form a majority government, 61 seats out of 120 seats in Parliament are needed. The preliminary results on October 14th showed the National Party winning 50 seats and ACT winning 11 seats, providing a one-seat majority. The New Zealand First Party gained 8 seats, while Labour received 34 preliminary seats, the Greens received 14 seats, and Te Pati MÄori gained 4 seats. In the 2020 election, Labour won 65 seats, but that number decreased to 34 based on preliminary results.
The National Party gained 38.99% of the vote in the preliminary count, while Labour received 26.85%, and the Greens received 10.78%. ACT New Zealand received 9% of the vote, New Zealand First gained 6.46%, and Te Pati MÄori received 2.6%. The remaining special votes account for approximately 20.2% of the total vote.
The National Party is a centre-right party founded in 1836, while Labour is a centre-left major party founded in 1916. ACT New Zealand is a classical libertarian party, and New Zealand First is a nationalist party formed in 1993. The Greens and Te Pati MÄori are left-wing parties, with the latter advocating for more rights for MÄori people. Major parties in New Zealand commonly need to partner with minor parties to form a government. In the 2020 election, however, Labour was able to govern on its own after winning 65 seats.