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Live: It's Labour! Jacinda Ardern will be next PM after NZ First swing left

Author
NZ Herald Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Oct 2017, 2:45PM
​

Live: It's Labour! Jacinda Ardern will be next PM after NZ First swing left

Author
NZ Herald Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 19 Oct 2017, 2:45PM

It's Labour and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern!

New Zealand First has crowned Ardern the next Prime Minister with its decision to back a Labour-led Government, which also needs the Green Party to govern.

Ardern will claim the top job after only two and a-half months as Labour leader.

The decision will come as a shock to National, which holds two more seats than the Labour-Green bloc and ends its hope of leading New Zealand for a fourth term.

UPDATE 5.45pm: 

The decision has just been announced at Parliament by New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

He said NZ First made the call just 15 minutes before the announcement.

Ardern will be New Zealand's third woman Prime Minister, after Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark.

She will also be its second youngest ever Prime Minister, after Edward Stafford who was also aged 37 when he took office 161 years ago.

After the September 23 election, Labour's 36.9 per cent and the Greens' 6.3 per cent gave them 54 seats between them, not enough for a majority without New Zealand First.

The three parties have 63 seats. National polled 44.4 per cent and holds 56 seats, not enough for an outright majority.

The New Zealand First decision follows a week of parallel policy negotiations between New Zealand First and National and Labour.

The party caucus and board started meeting on Monday morning to deliberate.

One of Winston Peters's out onc form that.

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