New Zealand Election Still Too Close to Call as Preliminary Count Completes With Coalition on 67 Seats

Updated 14:20 UTC: Preliminary count complete, coalition on 67 seats, race still too close to call

The preliminary count is complete. The Electoral Commission feed showed 100.0 percent of voting places reporting across all 71 electorates, with Parliament projected at 131 seats and 66 seats needed to govern. The grouping of National, ACT and New Zealand First stands on 67 seats, one above the majority line. The opposition grouping of Labour, the Greens and Te Pati Maori stands on 57 seats, and Opportunity holds seven seats outside both groupings.

Labour took the highest share of the party vote by a tiny margin, 29.4 percent to National's 29.2 percent, but National won more seats through stronger results in individual electorates, 42 seats to Labour's 36. National's party vote fell sharply from 38 percent in 2023, CNN reported. ACT holds 13 seats on 10.9 percent of the vote and New Zealand First holds 12 seats on 9.8 percent, and CNN reported that both parties are in a stronger position to set terms in coalition talks. The Greens hold 16 seats and Te Pati Maori holds five. Opportunity, on 6.0 percent, becomes the first total outsider party to enter Parliament since New Zealand moved to mixed member proportional voting in the mid-1990s, CNN reported.

No winner has been declared and the race remains too close to call. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the race "too close to call" in remarks to supporters in Auckland, CNN reported, and said the country would need to wait until the Electoral Commission delivered the final official results on November 27 for certainty, with coalition negotiations then able to drag on for weeks before a government is formed. Labour leader Chris Hipkins told supporters in Wellington: "Tonight, New Zealand has spoken. It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you've said." He added: "every vote matters. And every vote must be counted." Special votes are still to be counted before the official result, and CNN reported that the left bloc could still have a path to power if it picked up additional seats in the final count and secured the support of Opportunity.

Updated 12:36 UTC: Count passes 95 percent, no winner as leaders point to talks

With more than 95 percent of ballots counted, National and Labour were nearly deadlocked in the party vote, both just short of 30 percent and separated by only a few thousand votes, Reuters reported. The Associated Press, reporting with more than 80 percent counted, put the incumbent conservative government on the brink of the slimmest possible return to power, by just one seat, with no definitive victory for the right or the left.

The latest figures pointed to a 129 seat Parliament, where 65 seats are needed for a majority. A coalition of National, ACT and New Zealand First would hold 66 seats, made up of 41 for National, 13 for ACT and 12 for New Zealand First. The left bloc held 56 seats in total, with Labour on 35, the Greens on 16 in their best ever result, and Te Pati Maori on five. Opportunity, led by Qiulae Wong, held seven seats and was set to enter Parliament for the first time.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not claim victory in a speech to supporters at National headquarters in Auckland after midnight. "National is once again the largest party in parliament and we have a pathway to forming the next government," Mr Luxon said. "But I have to tell you right now it is too close to call." Labour leader Chris Hipkins did not concede defeat in Upper Hutt. "Tonight, New Zealand has spoken," Mr Hipkins told supporters. "It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you've said."

Ms Wong has said she was open to negotiating with either side and would deal first with whichever major party won the most votes, while Mr Luxon has ruled out governing with Opportunity. The count also pointed to a shock exit from Parliament for senior National figures including Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Speaker Gerry Brownlee, and Defence and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. Special votes, counted for the final verified tally due on November 27, have historically favoured the left, and coalition negotiations could still take weeks.

Updated: National moves ahead at 60 percent of the count

With 60 percent of the count completed, National led the party vote on 29.4 percent and Labour was just behind on 29.3 percent, a flip from the 39.8 percent count reported below, where Labour led 29.88 to 29.35. The Electoral Commission projects the government parties, National, ACT and NZ First, will hold 67 seats, while the opposition parties, Labour, the Greens and the Maori Party, joined by Opportunity, reach 63 seats.

ACT is on a record high 10.9 percent and the Greens have claimed a record vote of 13.7 percent. Opportunity is on 5.6 to 5.7 percent and could yield six MPs, who will be critical if the left can claim a majority. The Maori Party polled 0.6 percent but could yield five MPs after campaigning in electorates. Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Defence Minister Paul Goldsmith have all but conceded their seats. The result may not be known for weeks. Special votes will not be included until official results are released on November 27, followed by coalition negotiations.

New Zealand's general election was too close to call on Saturday night, with Labour narrowly ahead of the ruling National Party and the seat projection on a knife edge.

Polls closed at 7 p.m. local time on Saturday, November 7, 2026. By 9:05 p.m., the Electoral Commission count had 1,513,012 votes in, put at 39.8 percent of the total, from 35.2 percent of voting places. Labour had 29.88 percent of the party vote and National 29.35 percent, a gap of about 8,000 votes. The Greens were on 14.06 percent, ACT on 10.54 percent, New Zealand First on 9.35 percent and Opportunity on 5.42 percent, above the 5 percent threshold to enter Parliament. Te Pati Maori was on 0.60 percent.

The seat count sits at 66 to 65

Overhang seats pushed Parliament to 131 seats on the 9:05 p.m. figures, so 66 seats are needed to govern. National had 42 seats, ACT 13 and New Zealand First 11, a combined 66 for the incumbent coalition. Labour had 36, the Greens 17 and Te Pati Maori 5, a combined 58, and Opportunity had 7, so a Labour-led bloc with Opportunity would reach 65, one short.

National was leading in 42 of the 71 electorates, more than its party vote share would earn, so it would take no list MPs and its extra electorate wins become overhang seats. Te Pati Maori was leading in five of the seven Maori electorates on only 0.60 percent of the party vote, a second overhang.

A count that has swung all night

The lead changed hands during the night. In the first Reuters wire, at 1.6 percent counted, National was at 30.81 percent of the party vote and Labour at 29.88 percent. A Reuters update at 0815 UTC, with 5.7 percent counted, had National at 31.58 percent and Labour at 28.37 percent, with Opportunity at 5.6 percent. AAP reported the count was too close to call, with a TVNZ projection of 65 seats for the coalition and 64 for the Labour-led opposition and Opportunity. Early seat projections reported by Reuters showed the incumbent coalition heading toward remaining in control, in an election dominated by a struggling economy and voter dissatisfaction with the two biggest parties.

The election pits Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, leader of the centre-right National Party, against Labour leader Chris Hipkins. In their own electorates, Luxon led with 13,216 votes, 66.0 percent, and Hipkins led with 13,761 votes, 58.6 percent. The final pre-election poll, published on Friday, had Labour on 30.7 percent and National on 26.4 percent, with Opportunity holding the balance. RNZ analysis described Luxon's pledge not to work with Opportunity, if it held the balance of power, as "probably the absolute worst case scenario".

What is still to come

Nearly 1.67 million people voted in advance before election day, and advance votes dominate the early figures. The Commission feed records more than 172,000 special votes, not part of the election night count and counted for the official result. They include overseas voters, late enrolments and people who voted outside their electorate.

The Commission cautioned that preliminary results are "likely to change" and are not directly comparable with the official results. Official results are expected on November 27, and there may be no new government until after they are released and coalition talks conclude. New Zealand uses mixed member proportional representation, with 71 constituency seats and at least 49 party seats, and a party or coalition needs a majority to govern.