Following an election held last month, the final allocation of parliamentary seats in New Zealand has been confirmed.
It is likely that the centre-right National Party will govern with the libertarian ACT and right-wing New Zealand First parties.
The National Party won 48 seats in the 122-member legislature, up from the 33 it won in 2020. ACT managed 11, an increase of one, while New Zealand First won eight seats. It had not won enough votes in New Zealand’s proportional representation electoral system to cross the electoral threshold to secure parliamentary seats in 2020.
This gives the possible coalition a relatively comfortable majority of 67.
An initial count of votes had given the National Party 50 seats. However, following the counting of votes cast by New Zealanders living abroad and by those who had not been able to cast a vote at their normal voting station, the party’s overall tally dropped to 48.
The other parties which won representation in the country’s unicameral legislature were the Labour Party, which won 34 seats, a decline from 65. The Labour Party had governed New Zealand since 2017 but has now been relegated to the opposition.
The Green Party won 15 seats in last month’s election, with the Maori Party winning six.
Christopher Luxon, the leader of the National Party and likely next Prime Minister of New Zealand, said the final allocation of seats did not change his party’s strategy significantly. He was quoted as saying: ‘That is why we have been progressing and advancing the arrangement and relationships with both the Act party but also New Zealand First. Now we can get cracking with it and accelerate those conversations.’