New Zealand’s Labour leader Jacinda Ardern will form the country’s next government after gaining the support of a small nationalist party holding the balance of power following an inconclusive September 23,2017 election. “This is an exciting day. We aspire to be a government for all New Zealanders and one that will seize the opportunity to build a fairer, better New Zealand,” said New Zealand’s Labour leader Jacinda Ardern.
The move marks the end of nearly a decade of National governments and pushed the New Zealand dollar more than one percent lower, to a near 4-1/2 month low, as markets feared a change in government and generally more protectionist policies. Ardern will become New Zealand’s third female prime minister and its youngest leader in recent years.
The 37-year-old Ardern almost single-handedly brought Labour to government after taking over its leadership in August. Before then, the election had been widely considered a slam-dunk for the incumbent National Party. Ardern’s rapid rise in popularity and charisma has drawn comparisons with other youthful and global leaders like Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
“We had a choice to make… for a modified status quo or for change,” New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told reporters in Wellington, in announcing his party’s support for Labour. “That’s why in the end we chose a coalition government of New Zealand First with the New Zealand Labour Party,” said Peters, ending nearly a month of political uncertainty.
New Zealand First holds the balance of power with nine seats, a Labour-Green bloc controls 54 seats, and the National Party 56 seats. The New Zealand dollar has fallen around 3.8 percent against the U.S. dollar since the vote and following the announcement was last quoted at 1.31 percent lower at $0.7060.
While Peters said new policy announcements would be up to Labour leader Ardern, he gave a sense of what was to come by saying he would look to redraft the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s central bank mandate and expected fewer immigrants to be allowed into New Zealand. Peters also said he had agreed with Labour to build tens of thousands of affordable homes.
Labour and New Zealand First favour greater restrictions on migration and trade – both of which have been key sources of New Zealand’s robust growth of recent years.
Note
Around 3.57 million people were registered to vote in the election,with 2.63 million (79.8%) turning out
Prior to the election, the centre-right National Party, led by Prime Minister Bill English, had governed since 2008 in a minority government with confidence and supply from the Māori, ACT and United Future parties.
It was the first election for English as incumbent Prime Minister, having replaced John Key on 12 December 2016.
The main opposition parties to the National government were Labour (the official opposition), led by Jacinda Ardern, the Green Party, and New Zealand First.
Voters on Saturday Sep 23,2017 elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, with 71 electorate members and 49 list members.
New Zealand uses the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, which gives voters two votes: one for their local electorate MP and one for a political party.
Seats in Parliament are filled firstly by the successful candidate in each electorate, and secondly, from party lists in a ratio based on the percentage of nationwide votes that the party received.
To gain a party list MP in Parliament, the party must achieve at least one electorate MP or at least 5% of the nationwide vote
The 2017 New Zealand General Election saw only 5 parties return to Parliament — the lowest since the introduction of MMP in 1996
On Thursday October 19, 2017, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters announced the party is intending to form a coalition government with the Labour Party, with confidence and supply from the Green Party.
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