New Zealand PM concedes election after ‘nightmare’ result for Labour | World News

Conservative Christopher Luxon is now set to become the country’s next prime minister after NZ Labour suffered a ‘nightmare’ result.

With over 80% of votes counted, the latest projections suggests that National would win 50 seats, Labour 34, the Greens 13, Act 12, NZ First 8 and Te Pāti Māori four seats.

New Zealand operates a proportional representive voting system, and the exact makeup of Luxon’s conservative government is still to be determined.

Libertarian party ACT now seem likely to form a coalition with National, who have secured around 40% of the vote.

However, the incumbants may secure enough seats to govern without the assistance of right-wing populists NZ First, who have traditionally acted as kingmakers within the country’s parliamentary makeup.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who spent just nine months in the top job after taking over from Jacinda Ardern in January, told supporters late Saturday he had called Luxon to concede.

An emotional Hipkins said it wasn’t the result he wanted.

‘But I want you to be proud of what we achieved over the last six years,’ he told supporters at an event in Wellington.

Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly stepped down as prime minister in January, saying she no longer had ‘enough in the tank’ to do the job justice.

She won the last election in a landslide, but her popularity waned as people got tired of COVID-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy.

Her departure left Hipkins, 45, to take over as leader. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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