Jacinda Ardern as the Prime Minister of New Zealand has won for the second time. With 87 percent of the vote counted, the centre-Left Labor Party has won 48.9 percent of the vote. Her party has won with a margin that no one did since the beginning of the current political system in 1996.
Coalitions are common in New Zealand, where under the current system no single party has won a majority.
Labor’s main opposition, the right-wing National Party at the centre, is at 27 – less than 44% of the last election and the party’s worst result since 2002.
National leader Judith Collins said she called on Ardern to concede defeat and congratulated Ardern on “excellent results” for the Labor Party.
The results are counting now. Final results will be released in three weeks when special ballots – including those cast by overseas New Zealanders are cast.
