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Follow Stuff’s live election night special here all night long here. And you can see all the results in detail here.
MMP’s first outright majority looks like a realistic prospect as Jacinda Ardern’s Labor Party moves toward victory in the 2020 election.
At 9.40pm, Labor has 49.4 percent of the party’s votes, well ahead of the National Party, which has just 26.7 percent. That would give Labor 64 of the seats in Parliament.
These results keep changing as they come in. About 60 percent of the votes have been counted.
National Party Chairman Peter Goodfellow has admitted that the party is likely to lose the election.
“Looking at this, I think we probably can’t win it, but I certainly think we’ll get a respectful number,” Goodfellow said.
Robert Kitchin / Things
Labor’s Jacinda Ardern appears to have secured a second term.
READ MORE:
* Stay with Stuff for election night coverage
* Election 2020: Labor Party goes ahead in latest poll, but would need the Greens to rule
* Election 2020: Judith Collins’ lukewarm response to the delay in the elections, while other parties provide support
Although he is unlikely to be part of the next administration, the other early winner is ACT. It got 0.5 percent in the last election, and leader David Seymour relied on his Epsom seat to enter Parliament.
With ACT turning out 8% of the vote, Seymour is set to bring more MPs with him to Parliament, with 10 ACT MPs arriving based on the vote so far.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY / Things
Act leader David Seymour is having a really good night.
The Greens were at 7.7 percent. That would translate into 10 green MPs coming to Parliament.
One of the biggest questions of the night will be Winston Peters, whose first New Zealand party may not return to Parliament in current polls. He was sitting at 2.5 percent at 9.40pm.
Labor seeks victory in several National strongholds.
Martin De Ruyter / Things
Nelson’s Nick Smith, pictured with National Leader Judith Collins, has admitted defeat.
Nick Smith, Nelson MP for 30 years, has awarded it to Rachel Boyack of the Labor Party.
“May our policy in New Zealand never become toxic and horrible as it does in other parts of the world,” Smith said.
“I wish the best for you and your team.”
Labor victories in Nelson and across New Zealand had been obvious earlier in the night, and Smith previously said “if I’m brutally honest, we can’t go back from this.”
Steven Walton / Stuff
According to the first results, the national deputy director and current deputy of Ilam, Gerry Brownlee, is in trouble.
National Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee may also end up losing Ilam’s Christchurch headquarters, which he has held since 1996.
Sarah Pallett of Labor leads Brownlee by a couple thousand votes, with just over half of the votes counted.
In Rangitata, the former home of MP Andrew Falloon, Labor Jo Luxton (currently a list MP) is leading by a few thousand votes, with 92 percent of the vote counted. The seat has been in the hands of National since its inception in 2008.
In New Plymouth, where Labor launched controversy after banning further offshore oil and gas exploration, Labor’s Glen Bennett leads National’s Jonathan Young by just over 2,000 votes. National has held the seat since 2008.
On the East Coast, Kiri Allan of Labor has a more than 4,000 vote lead over Tania Tapsell of National with more than half of the votes counted.
Hamilton West also appears to live up to its reputation in a landmark position, with Labor’s Dr. Gaurav Sharma holding a significant lead over National incumbent Tim MacIndoe. National has held the seat since 2008.
RYAN ANDERSON / Stuff
Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick has a slight lead over Labor Helen White, with a third of the votes counted.
Other seats seem to be a bit more of a battle. With three-quarters of the votes counted, Chlöe Swarbrick of the Greens has a lead of a few hundred votes over Helen White of the Labor Party.
There are a handful of compelling victories in National’s strongholds. Leader Judith Collins has a lead of a few thousand votes in her Papakura seat.
Chris Luxon also appears to be sailing towards victory in Botany.
Joe Johnson / Stuff
It’s not going well for National.
Almost 2 million votes were cast before Election Day this year. The count for them started at 9am this morning.
Votes cast on actual election day will continue to be counted throughout the night, although there does not appear to be any path to power for National.
New Zealanders will have to wait a little longer for the results of the referendums on euthanasia and cannabis. The Electoral Commission will release the preliminary results of each referendum on October 30 and the official results will be released on November 6, 35 days after the start of early voting and 20 days after Election Day.
Follow Stuff’s live election night special here all night long here. And you can see all the results in detail here.
