October 16, 2023
Luxon in captain’s chair
The voters have spoken, giving the task of steering the country for the next three years to National’s Christopher Luxon.
The former Air New Zealand boss will have to wait until special votes are counted to know whether he will be flying with ACT in the co-pilot’s seat, or if he needs to somehow have Winston Peters and New Zealand First in the cabin as well.
National took 38.95 percent of the vote for 50 seats, and is set to pick up an extra seat because of the overhang created by the death of ACT’s Port Waikato candidate, forcing a by-election on November 25 with National’s Andrew Bayley is sure to win.
With ACT’s 8.98 percent and 11 MPs, it would then have 62 seats.
Te Pati Maori got four seats but only 2.61 percent of the party vote, meaning a second overhang and a 122-seat parliament.
Labour lost a slew of electorates and its party vote slumped to 26.9 percent.
That gives it 17 electorate seats and 17 list seats, but special votes could flip three or four of those losses.
The Greens on 10.77 percent have 14 MPs, including an unprecedented three electorate MPs, and New Zealand First’s 6.4 percent showing will give it eight MPs.