New Zealand General Election, Main Opposition National Party Wins Big... Businessman Luxon to be Next Prime Minister (Summary)

Center-right oriented main opposition party Gukmin Party's landslide victory
Act Party likely to become 'coalition partner'

New Zealand's center-right main opposition party, the National Party, won the general election held on the 14th (local time).

Christopher Luxon, leader of the main opposition National Party, who won the New Zealand general election held on the 4th.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to AP News and others, with 81% of the votes counted that day, the National Party secured 40%, surpassing the ruling Labour Party, which garnered 26%, to become the leading party.

The ACT Party received 9%, and New Zealand First Party received 6% of the votes respectively. However, since the National Party failed to secure an outright majority, it is expected to negotiate coalition government formation with minor parties going forward.

With the National Party's victory in the general election, its leader, conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon, is set to end the six-year rule of the ruling Labour Party and become the next prime minister.

New Zealand First Party, which has played the role of 'kingmaker' in past elections, also regained its presence. In the 2020 general election, New Zealand First Party failed to secure 5% of the vote and did not enter parliament.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins acknowledged defeat in a phone call with National Party leader Luxon. He said, "This is not the result I wanted," but added, "Looking at the numbers (Labour Party's vote share), Labour is not in a position to form the (next) government."

New Zealand voters ended the six-year liberal government led by former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern through this general election. Former Prime Minister Ardern abruptly resigned in January, stating she could no longer perform the prime ministerial duties fairly. Although she won a landslide victory in the previous election, her popularity declined as people grew tired of COVID-19 restrictions and the economy worsened due to inflation. Subsequently, Prime Minister Hipkins, who was serving as Minister of Police and Education, succeeded her position.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.