New Zealand Elections: Right-Wing Wave Sweeps Ruling Party

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins concedes election defeat.
National Party, led by Christopher Luxon, gains 40% of votes.

Coalition governments are common in New Zealand’s proportional system.

New Zealand‘s Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, has acknowledged his Labour party’s defeat in Saturday’s election, where voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the government’s performance and steered the country toward a more right-leaning direction.

This electoral shift comes nine months after the unexpected resignation of his predecessor, Jacinda Ardern.

During the election campaign, the rising cost of living took center stage, and New Zealanders decided to end the six-year reign of the Labour Party.

The latter part of this tenure was marked by the country’s stringent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which effectively controlled infections but took a toll on the economy.

With over 98% of the votes counted, the center-right National Party, led by former airline executive Christopher Luxon, secured approximately 40% of the ballots, as reported by New Zealand’s Electoral Commission.

In a somber address to his supporters, Hipkins conveyed that Labour did not garner sufficient votes to secure a government mandate.

“The result tonight is not one that any of us wanted,” he said, according to RNZ. “I gave it my all to turn the tide of history but alas, it was not enough.”

Luxon said New Zealanders had “voted for change” and that his party would now get to work trying to form a coalition.

“Tonight you have given us the mandate to take New Zealand forward,” he told supporters.

In New Zealand’s mixed-member proportional system, coalitions have become the standard since its introduction in 1996.

The nationalist NZ First party, led by Winston Peters, could potentially play a pivotal role as a coalition partner alongside the libertarian right-wing Act Party, potentially holding the balance of power.

The only instance of a party winning an outright majority and governing independently in the current political system was Labour’s landslide victory in 2020, under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership.

Her success in managing the country’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak bolstered her re-election.

However, Ardern surprised the nation with her resignation in January, citing a lack of energy to contest another election. She passed the leadership of her party to Chris Hipkins.

Ardern, renowned globally as a progressive icon, faced multiple crises during her time in office, including the Christchurch terrorist attack, a deadly volcanic eruption, and the global pandemic.

She gained international recognition for her empathetic and compassionate leadership, especially when many western democracies were witnessing the rise of populist demagogues.

Despite her global acclaim, Ardern’s popularity waned domestically due to rising living costs, housing shortages, and economic concerns.

She also contended with violent anti-lockdown protests in the capital, Wellington, and threats against her.

Chris Hipkins, Ardern’s successor as Prime Minister, inherited these issues, compounded by a sluggish economy, a historically high inflation rate of 6%, and concerns from ratings agencies about the country’s deficit.

This election marked the first in New Zealand following the easing of strict coronavirus lockdown measures that had been a source of contention for many.

The government’s “go hard and go early” approach to the pandemic resulted in some of the world’s strictest border regulations, which, while effective in minimizing COVID-19 infections and deaths, were criticized by some residents who felt they were too stringent.

“They were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t,” said Alex Wareham, a bartender from Auckland, who added that because people didn’t “have the human toll to focus on they are thinking our economy was ruined, the country was shut down.”

“It was always going to be a lose-lose for Labour, no matter which way you look at it… but it feels a National government during Covid would have done it the same way,” she said.

The big issues

On the same day as New Zealand’s Saturday election, Australian voters rejected the first attempt at constitutional change in 24 years, which aimed to acknowledge First Nations people in Australia’s founding document.

All major New Zealand political parties made commitments to address economic improvement, provide relief from the cost of living crisis, boost employment, enhance healthcare and education services, and address housing issues.

The National Party’s 100-day plan is centered around a promise to implement various tax cuts, including the removal of a regional fuel tax.

They also plan to alter the Reserve Bank’s mandate to focus more on inflation, reduce regulatory burdens for businesses, expand free breast cancer screenings, take a tougher stance on crime with increased police powers to search gang members, and reverse several policies introduced by the Labour Party over the past six years.

Labour’s policies include extending free dental care to those under 30, alleviating the impact of rising food prices by exempting fruits and vegetables from the goods and services tax, introducing financial literacy education in schools, expanding free early education, and providing additional financial support to working families.

Chris Hipkins, aged 44, was first elected to Parliament in 2008 and played a significant role in shaping the country’s COVID-19 policies in 2020. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, he held various key roles, including Minister of Education, Minister of Police, Minister for the Public Service, and Leader of the House.

His election campaign briefly faced challenges when he tested positive for COVID-19 just two weeks before the election, which kept him off the campaign trail for five days.

Christopher Luxon, aged 53, is a businessman and former CEO of Air New Zealand who assumed leadership of the National Party in 2021. Before becoming the leader of the opposition, he served as a party spokesman for various government departments and was a member of several select committees.

Voters in New Zealand have the opportunity to cast two votes on their ballots: one for a candidate in their local constituency and one for a political party.

A party needs to secure at least 5% of the vote or win a constituency seat to earn representation in Parliament.

To form a government, a party or coalition must secure 61 out of the 120 seats in New Zealand’s single-house parliament, which represents approximately 48% of the popular vote.

Official results will be declared by the election commission approximately three weeks after the election.

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New Zealand Elections: Right-Wing Wave Sweeps Ruling Party

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