Election 2023

The pressure is on Jacinda Ardern to make use of her new mandate to affect real change. Labour has secured 49.1 percent of the vote in last night's election - with National on 26.8 percent, Act on eight percent and the Greens on 7.6 percent. Political commentator Shane te Pou told Kerre McIvor there will be huge expectations on Ardern, now that she isn't reliant on New Zealand First. "If a party i...

NZ First leader Winston Peters has thanked voters, volunteers and NZ First staff around New Zealand at the Duke of Marlborough in Russell. "Ladies and Gentleman elections are bout democracy and what the people wish and we should never stop trusting the people," he said. "We committed ourselves three year ago to be a constructive partner with government. "To provide certainty and stability in a fas...

The country's "unapologetic Māori voice" is returning to Parliament with Rawiri Waititi wresting the Waiariki seat off Labour's Tāmati Coffey. "The people have spoken and I am absolutely overwhelmed that they have put their trust in me to represent them for the next parliamentary term," Waititi said. "I cannot thank them enough for having the belief in us as te iwi Māori to champion our own mana m...

Sir Cullen Michael says Labour's historic victory is a green light for much needed changes in climate action and transport infrastructure. But it is not a mandate for a lurch to the left in terms of tax or welfare reform, and any attempt to do so quickly could risk "middle-ground voters jumping off a cliff", the former Finance Minister told the Herald. Last night Labour secured a parliamentary maj...

A former National Finance Minister believes many of those who voted for Labour - will have been holding their noses as they did so. Steven Joyce told Kerre McIvor he believes a lot of people voted strategically. "With the discussions around the wealth taxes the past few weeks, I knew some people who are normally National voters saying they will vote for Labour, just to keep the Greens out." Joyce...

Chloe Swarbrick says it's phenomenal to have won Auckland Central. Special votes haven't been counted but she's leading by 500 votes. Swarbrick told Kerre McIvor she doesn't want to count her chickens before they hatch, but says it was a very good night. "When you give every fibre of your being to something, we built up a massive campaign and did things everyone ruled out." Swarbrick says everyone...

Act expects to have power in Parliament - even on the opposition benches. The party is set to go from one MP to ten, after winning Epsom and soaking up eight percent of the party vote. Leader David Seymour says the defeat of the right overall is disappointing. But he told Kerre McIvor Act have proven they can still influence government policy from the opposition. "Labour said they were going to in...

National's Gerry Brownlee has revealed he's considering his position in the party, after last night's devastating election result. It's ended up with just 26.8 percent of the party vote, meaning 19 MPs are out of a job. Brownlee told Kerre McIvor he'll be taking a couple of days to think about his future with the party. "I'll be speaking to colleagues before making a decision. The party will hold...

Judith Collins has admitted National never expected to win the election. She's spoken to Newstalk ZB's Kerre McIvor, in her first interview since last night's historic loss. She says she has no plans to step down. Collins says the loss is devastating, but it was almost inevitable. She felt devastated for her MPs, and the fact the party vote wasn't high enough. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/liste...

Greens co-leader James Shaw remains hopeful of being part of the next Labour government. He told Kerre McIvor while Labour doesn't have to include them, there's a good chance they will. “I guess the question is, what sort of government do they want? “Jacinda is a consensus builder, she wants to build a broader coalition as possible.” At this stage, Labour has enough votes to govern alone. But Jame...

Labour's Grant Robertson is over the moon with last night's election result. The finance spokesman told Kerre McIvor you never take anything for granted, and he's humbled by the support the party's had. "I've spent a lot of time travelling around New Zealand the past few weeks. I really felt that on the ground, people were supporting us." Robertson is confident the party would have won the electio...

Former Prime Minster Helen Clarke has described a spectacular victory for Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party in the 2020 General Election. With a little over 90 per cent of votes counted, Labour sit on 49 per cent with National far behind on 27. As it stands Labour can govern alone, not needing the Greens to return to Parliament. It will keep Ms Ardern around as Prime Minister of New Zealand. Ms...

Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick is set to win the Auckland central seat in what has been a tight race with Labour's Helen White. Swarbrick has had the edge since vote counting started for the 2020 election tonight, with White in second and National's Emma Mellow over 1,000 votes back. Greens co-leader James Shaw told Mike Hosking and Barry Soper Swarbrick's victory is historical. "No third party candidat...

It is turning out to be a horror 2020 election for the National Party, who continue to trail Labour by a substantial amount. National is slipping far behind in tonight's polling at 27 per cent, compared to around 50 per cent for Labour at the mid-way point of vote counting. Finance Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith told Mike Hosking and Barry Soper they were hoping for better results. "We haven't helped...

National MP for Hutt South Chris Bishop has fallen behind Labour's Ginny Andersen, and admits his night is riddled with nerves. "At one point in the last campaign I was down by 2,000 and I ended up wining it by 2,000... so bit of a nervous one last time I think it will be the same this time. "Doable, but look it's going to be a nervous night and I'm pretty nervous." Bishop says Judith Collins had...

Sitting National Rodney MP Mark Mitchell looks set to retain his seat, but said he was hugely disappointed by what the polls were saying. Mitchell told NZME there was no way he had "anticipated" what was coming through in the vote count. He said he felt for the party's "volunteers and supporters" who had given their all for the party. "You can't argue there is not a swing, but people just do not w...

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Potential new Auckland Central MP, the Green Party's Chloe Swarbrick told Mike Hosking he was thrilled, but it was "early days still". Swarbrick said the Green Party had "thrown everything" at a local campaign. She said it was "exciting times we are in the race" with about 60 per cent of the vote still to be counted. She put the current result "down to campaigning, and campaigning works". That inc...

Despite not even half of votes counted for the 2020 election, Labour are looking strong with the possibility of being able to govern alone. As it stands the main party in the current coalition Government are ranging around 50 per cent, with National way down on roughly 26. Senior Labour MP David Parker told Mike Hosking and Barry Soper he is thrilled with how election night was playing out to date...

The early votes counted suggest the Labour Party could govern alone, and National are heading for a huge defeat this election. As it stands Labour are hovering around 50 per cent, while the Opposition are sitting around 26. The greens and Act are not far off, at roughly 8 and 7 per cent respectively. National deputy leader and campaign manager Gerry Brownlee told Mike Hosking and Barry Soper it wa...

Votes are beginning to flood in for the 2020 election, and early signs are showing the Labour Party could govern alone. Should they need help, Labour are set to turn to the Greens who are sitting strong in third behind the two major parties. One of those in National are struggling for numbers, and could be set for an early defeat. Act sit fourth, not far off what the Greens have garnered so far. L...

A less than auspicious showing at National's election headquarters in Auckland’s Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at this early stage of the night. Early voting results have National well behind, with nearly less than half of Labour's support.  Political reporter Aaron Dahmen is there, and he told Mike Hosking that the atmosphere is sombre so far.  "There's not many people here to witness these re...

The leader of the National Party's making a last-ditch plea to undecided voters ... to tick twice for blue. Judith Collins told Kerre McIvor they should vote for her Party - because it understands the economy. She says the Reserve Bank is predicting the worst economic times in 160 years. Watch the video above. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are just five days to go until Election Day, and things are heating up on the campaign trail! Tune in today for the final Front Bench - Heather du Plessis-Allan, Barry Soper, Trish Sherson and Chris Carter thrash out the big political issues in the lead up to Vote 2020. There is no holding back, no topic off limits, and no rules in this rapid-fire, highly opinionated election podcast. In tod...

Focus on the key issues facing Hutt South and Remutaka this election: Hear from Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Helen Down and REINZ regional director Mark Coffey on what needs to be done to boost the economy, and address rising house prices and growing congestion in the Hutt Valley. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.