New Zealand election ends without a clear winner as the Opportunity Party enters Parliament for the first time
7 November 2026
New Zealand's general election has produced no clear winner on the preliminary count. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's centre-right National Party is the largest party with 42 seats but has no majority of its own. With its coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First, it holds a slim lead over the left-leaning bloc led by Labour's Chris Hipkins, who has not conceded. The centrist Opportunity Party, led by Qiulae Wong, crossed the 5% threshold and enters Parliament for the first time. Special votes, cast outside a voter's electorate or overseas, still have to be counted. The Electoral Commission will announce the official result on 27 November. Under the mixed-member proportional system each voter casts two votes, so most governments are coalitions.
In plain words
MMP Mixed-member proportional — A system in which voters choose both a local member and a party, and party votes decide the share of seats.
Special votes — Votes cast outside the voter's own electorate, including from overseas, counted after election night.