New Zealand election leaves National and Labour with no clear winner
The gist
New Zealand's preliminary election count gave National 42 seats, 19 short of a majority, with Labour on 36.
About 300,000 special votes must be counted before anyone can form a government.
How it unfolded
- Nov 7, 2026New Zealand held its general election. Preliminary results with more than 99% of votes counted showed no clear winner: National won 42 seats, 19 short of a simple majority, and Labour 36.
- Nov 7, 2026Preliminary count put National at 29.3% of the popular vote, down from 38% in 2023, while ACT rose to 11% and New Zealand First to 10%. The right-wing coalition grouping stood at 67 seats in the 131-seat parliament, against 57 for Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori.
- Nov 7, 2026The Opportunity Party crossed the 5% threshold to enter parliament for the first time, securing seven seats. With 2.8 million ballots counted, the incumbent government appeared close to the slimmest possible return to power, by just one seat.
Key terms
- special votes
- A provisional ballot used in New Zealand elections by voters unable to cast an ordinary vote, whose eligibility must be confirmed before counting.
- centre-right
- A set of right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre, often linked to conservatism and Christian democracy.
- overhang
- Extra seats a party gains when it wins more constituency seats than its nationwide vote share entitles it to.
Source: Wikipedia