Labour's Jacinda Ardern wins second term, crushes National

Author: Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2020, 10:12PM

ELECTION LATEST
* It's a sea of red! Labour surges to victory - and can govern alone
* Jacinda Ardern hails historic win, promises to govern for "every New Zealander"
* Judith Collins crushed, congratulates Ardern on an "outstanding result"
* National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee among list of high-profile Nat MPs who have lost electorate seats in a night of misery - Nats get just 27% of the vote
* NZ First and Winston Peters out of Parliament with just 2.6% of vote
* Greens (7.6%) and Act (8%) will have 10 MPs each
* Maori Party back in Parliament, Rawiri Waititi beats Labour's Tamati Coffey in Waiariki
* The Greens' Chloe Swarbrick wins Auckland Central in one of night's biggest upsets

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has been rewarded by voters with a landslide win — delivering her power in her own right, and an absolute drubbing to the National Party.

Labour has almost 50 per cent of the vote — the most any party has achieved under MMP and easily enough to govern without relying on another party, meaning it will get more than the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.

However, the night is an absolute bloodbath for Judith Collins' National Party — and Labour's former coalition partner NZ First was kicked out of Parliament. It came in well under 30 per cent — a result that would give it about 35 seats. That is 20 fewer than the last election.

Walking out her front gate in Sandringham tonight, bound for Labour HQ, the Prime Minister was greeted by raucous cheers as the crowd gathered close in to greet her.

Ardern arrived at the Auckland Town Hall to scenes of jubilation and was joined on the stage by her partner Clarke Gayford and fellow Labour MPs.

"Tonight New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in at least 50 years," she told supporters.

She acknowledged voters who had switched allegiances from National.

"For those amongst you who may not have supported Labour before... to you I say thank you. We will not take your support for granted."

She said Labour would be a party which works for "every New Zealander".

Labour was committed to key infrastructure, 100 per cent renewal electricity, the environment and supporting those at risk.

"Over the next three years there is much work to do. We will build back better from the Covid crisis; better stronger with the answers to the [things] New Zealand already faces."

The Green Party is on track to get about 8 per cent of the vote, and MP Chloe Swarbrick is well-placed to win the Auckland Central electorate.

Ardern would not say whether or not she still intended to invite the Green Party to be part of the Government, or what role they might have. She said many voters who had never voted for Labour before had done so to give the party the ability to move quickly to address the issues Covid-19 had left it with.

"They have done that because they want us to crack on with it, they want us to move with haste and speed on the recovery. They don't want too much complexity so I'll be keeping all that in mind in the work we do going forward."

Green co-leader Marama Davidson congratulated Ardern for "an extraordinary win" and said the Greens were hoping to be part of a "strong, truly progressive government".

Former Deputy Prime Minister NZ First leader Winston Peters accepted his party's loss graciously but gave no indication of his plans.

"As for the next challenge, we'll all have to wait and see."

Jacinda Ardern waves to the crowd outside her house on election night. (Photo / Peter Meecham)

Ardern indicated deputy leader Kelvin Davis would become the Deputy Prime Minister.

Act leader David Seymour was set to get about 10 MPs into Parliament.

The Maori Party was in with a chance of getting back into Parliament — the contest between Labour's Tamati Coffey and the Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi was paper-thin.
Ardern was at her Sandringham home as the results rolled in.

Gayford spent the evening on the barbecue and surprised media and residents with fish bites made from his catch on a fishing trip with his father and brother in law. He also made venison patties after killing a deer during a hunting trip.