Elections & Democracy
New Zealand election kingmaker says populism is failing
New Zealand's potential election kingmaker Qiulae Wong said voters worldwide were turning against populism after her centrist Opportunity Party secured a record result in last week's election.
New Zealand faces weeks of political wrangling after preliminary results left no clear winner. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has declared that his right-wing coalition has a mandate to form the next government, while acknowledging that the result remains too close to call definitively.
Preliminary results have Luxon's National Party winning the most seats. National would have a slim majority if combined with its coalition partners, the populist NZ First and the libertarian ACT.
Luxon will run a caretaker government until final votes are announced on November 27. He has said he does not think he will need Opportunity's backing to form an administration, but has said he is open to working with Wong's party.
Wong said outside parliament Monday that the Opportunity Party's result reflected a shift after a decade of rising populism and extremism. “We've seen that populism doesn't deliver results,” she told journalists.
She said nearly 150,000 New Zealanders had voted for Opportunity and wanted a more pragmatic approach to politics.
Wong has said she will work with whichever party has the largest number of seats, while insisting that Opportunity's bottom lines on climate change action, cost of living and cleaning up politics are non-negotiable. She said Monday she had not yet heard from Luxon but was keen to talk.
The final tally will include nearly 400,000 special votes, including votes cast overseas and votes by people within New Zealand but outside their local electorate. Special votes have historically leaned left, potentially giving the centre-left Labour or Green parties one or two more seats at the expense of the right-wing bloc.
Political analyst Brigitte Morten told AFP that Labour could have a path to power once all votes are counted, with Opportunity as kingmaker. But she said a coalition involving Labour, the Green Party, Opportunity and Te Pati Maori would be difficult to negotiate and manage.
Opposition leader Chris Hipkins of Labour said Monday the election was “not over yet” and added: “We could be forming a government before Christmas.”
Update
The final tally will include nearly 400,000 special votes.
Political analyst Brigitte Morten said Labour could still have a path to power with Opportunity as kingmaker, though such a coalition would be difficult to negotiate and manage.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the election was not over and that Labour could form a government before Christmas.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 November 2026 at 04:44:23 UTC.
Update
Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong said voters were turning against populism and wanted more pragmatic politics.
Wong said nearly 150,000 New Zealanders had voted for Opportunity.
Wong said she had not yet heard from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon but was keen to talk.
Wong said Opportunity would approach talks constructively but would keep its bottom lines on climate change, cost of living and cleaning up politics.
Source note: AFP news report published on 9 November 2026 at 00:33:28 UTC.
Update
Christopher Luxon said his National Party had a mandate and a pathway to form a government.
Luxon will run a caretaker government until final votes are announced on November 27.
Preliminary results give National a slim two-seat majority with NZ First and ACT.
The Opportunity Party is projected to win seven seats and could have a kingmaker role.
Luxon said it was unlikely he would need the Opportunity Party to form a government but was willing to work with its leader Qiulae Wong on agreed issues.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 November 2026 at 02:58:09 UTC.
Update
Preliminary results released early Sunday showed 2.4 million votes counted from advance voting and election day.
Nearly 400,000 special votes, including about 100,000 cast overseas, were not included in the preliminary count.
The full and final vote tally is due on November 27.
Preliminary results created overhang seats for National and Te Pati Maori, expanding parliament to 131 members.
Labour candidates trail by a few hundred votes in Hamilton East and Wairarapa, two races that could matter to the final balance.
Coalition negotiations are expected to begin only after final votes are released.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 November 2026 at 02:11:44 UTC.
Update
Christopher Luxon said he saw a pathway to forming the next New Zealand government.
Luxon said the vote was still too close to call after a tight election.
Luxon said National was once again the largest party in parliament.
Source note: AFP news report published on 7 November 2026 at 11:14:33 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The final seat count and the composition of the next government remain unresolved until final votes are announced.
Source
AFP news report published on .