The 2026 election will be held on November 7, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today.

Luxon made the announcement at the National Party caucus retreat in Christchurch. He said it continued a tradition of setting the election date early in the year to ensure New Zealanders have certainty.

“Most of our elections have been late October, early November. So when you look at the international events beforehand, when you look at the national events, sporting events, that was the logical time.

“You weigh up the sporting events, you weigh up what’s going on within the country, you look at our international event schedule for the year, you get to late October, early November.

“I think most commentators kind of came to the same conclusion.”

The summer holidays are officially over for National and Labour MPs who are at their respective caucus retreats today.

Party caucus retreats are among a number of set pieces jostling for the title of the official start to the political year in an increasingly crowded calendar.

Setting the election date is one of the few powers that is reserved solely for the Prime Minister.

Luxon said he was not worried about the length of time coalition talks might take.

“I’m confident we’d be able to sort that out. As you’ve seen, we are going to make the case very strongly for a National-led government.

“We have been able and have proven that we can work successfully with both Act and New Zealand First and we’re open to working with them again obviously post an election, but we want to make the case that the strongest, strongest and most stable form of government will obviously be a very strong party vote for National.”

Luxon was clear he would not work with the Greens or Te Pāti Māori following the 2026 election.

“We’re not going to be working with the Greens, they have a radical left-wing agenda that will only accelerate that spend more.

“We won’t be working with Te Pāti Māori because they’ve got a separatist agenda.”

Luxon began his own political year on Monday, making his state of the nation address in Auckland.

Trying to turn a corner on the recessionary economy that marked the first two years of his Government, Luxon acknowledged it had been a “tough time for Kiwi households and businesses over the last five years”, but insisted the country was turning a corner.

National has returned to Christchurch for the second time this Parliament. The party has faced criticism that its spending decisions and Cabinet make-up have neglected the South Island. Partly in response to that criticism, Luxon created the new South Island portfolio and gave it to Rangitata MP James Meager.

There’s a lot to play for in Christchurch itself this year. National’s Vanessa Weenink eked out a narrow 396-vote victory over Labour’s Tracey McLellan in the Banks Peninsula electorate in 2023. McLellan later entered Parliament on the list.

Labour will be looking to win that electorate back, and with the swing against National since election day, stands a good chance of doing so.

Another seat to watch is Wigram. Formed at the dawn of the MMP era, the seat, which was once deep-red Sydenham, was held by Jim Anderton on his journey from the Alliance to the Progressives. The incumbent, Megan Woods, who was once a member of the Progressives with Anderton, is no longer contesting the seat. Boundary changes and Christchurch’s post-quake demographic contortions have both National and Labour insiders picking it as a seat that could flip.

The National caucus is also eagerly awaiting the Government’s announcement of a tipped U-turn on a policy that would have intensified housing in Auckland.

The plan would have allowed the construction of up to two million new dwellings in Auckland, partly through allowing intensification in central parts of the city. The plan is the successor of moves under the Labour Government to densify Auckland in an attempt to improve housing affordability which were picked up by Housing Minister Chris Bishop.

The Government is expected to announce changes to Auckland housing plans. Photo / Alex Burton 

The plan sparked a mini-rebellion within the coalition and within National’s caucus, with MPs concerned the plan would see large apartment buildings in areas without infrastructure and overshadowing people’s one or two-storey homes.

MPs are also anxious that the crash in Auckland house prices is weighing on the Government’s popularity.

“It’s clear there’s a lot of feedback that’s been received, and that change will be needed, and we’re open to that,” Luxon said of the rumoured U-turn.

The change has not yet gone to Cabinet, but is expected to reduce the load on Auckland’s wealthier central suburbs and increase housing on the city’s perimeter.

That decision has not yet been to Cabinet and will not be announced at the retreat, but the rift between the party’s Auckland MPs, who are opposed to the scheme, and Bishop, a champion of the plan, could rear its head.

Luxon has also teased a reshuffle early this year, and noted to Hosking that there are likely to be retirements from his caucus announced shortly.

A reshuffle is not expected at the retreat.