Winston Peters is back, National loses ground in NZ election after final count

Wellington: New Zealand’s centre-right National party and its preferred coalition partner have lost a preliminary parliamentary majority, setting the stage for a three-party tie-up with comeback MP Winston Peters.

The country is set to be governed by a National, ACT and NZ First coalition, after final results of the October 14 ballot released on Friday eroded National’s representation in the next parliament. The preliminary count did not include 603,257 special votes, including 78,030 overseas votes, or 20.9 per cent of total.

The three-week count revealed National dropped from 50 MPs in the preliminary count to 48. Its preferred coalition partner, ACT, ended up with 11 MPs - a combined result of 59 in the 122-seat parliament. (One more seat will be added after the Port Waikato by-election, taking the total to 123, according to the NZ Electoral Commission.)

New Zealand National Party leader and Prime Minister elect Christopher Luxon.Credit: AP

Although the Labour Party conceded defeat earlier, right-wing parties were waiting for the final count before forming a new government.

Incoming prime minister Chris Luxon will now need to strike a deal with NZ First leader Winston Peters to command a majority in parliament.

There’s “good will and good faith from all three party leaders to move forward with coalition negotiations,” Luxon said on Friday. He said he couldn’t guarantee when negotiations would be completed.

Peters has been a factor in Kiwi politics for almost half a century.

NZ First leader Winston Peters has won his seat back after losing it at the 2020 election.Credit: Getty

Both National and ACT, a right-wing libertarian party, warned Kiwis against voting for Peters’ party, but having fallen short, now require NZ First’s eight MPs to tip over the threshold.

Peters, who was first elected in 1978 as a National MP, quit the party to form NZ First in 1993. He was foreign minister and deputy prime minister in Jacinda Ardern’s Labour-led government, but lost his seat at the last election.

NZ First’s presence in government will change the dynamic markedly.

National and ACT are aligned on many policy fronts such as supporting tax relief, regulation reduction and ending government waste. Luxon and ACT leader David Seymour are also friends and have a strong working relationship.

NZ First has other priorities, arguing the country can’t afford tax cuts and its regions need government support, and in Peters, boast parliament’s most combustible personality.

Seymour vowed during the election campaign not to share a cabinet with the 78-year-old Peters.

The results also mean a boon for the Maori Party, which claimed another two seats from Labour and will have six.

Labour will have 34 seats, while left-wingers the Greens will have 15, up one from the preliminary results, for their best-ever result.

Four electorates have flipped from the preliminary results.

The Maori Party has won Tamaki Makarau from tourism minister Peeni Henare by just four votes, and defeated deputy Labour leader Kelvin Davis in Te Tai Tokerau by 517 votes.

Both senior Labour MPs will take their place in parliament as List MPs.

Labour also clawed back two electorates which National led on the night, winning Nelson by 29 votes and Te Atatu, in Auckland’s west, by 131 votes.

Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford is one of the sole survivors of a National “blue-nami” in Auckland, which saw the conservative party take Labour heartlands of New Lynn and Mt Roskill in mighty upsets.

Labour MP Helen White has been spared a humiliating upset in Mt Albert - the heartland seat previously held by Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern - clinging to a narrow lead to win.

The parliament will also grow by one seat to 123 MPs later this month after a by-election in Port Waikato.

Incumbent National MP Andrew Bayly is highly likely to win the seat, growing National’s caucus but not materially changing the election outcome.

Final election results

National: 38.1 per cent, 48 MPs

Labour: 26.9 per cent, 34 MPs

Greens: 11.6 per cent, 15 MPs

ACT: 8.6 per cent,11 MPs

NZ First : 6.1 per cent, 8 MPs

Maori Party: 3.1 per cent, 6 MPs

AAP