New Zealand 2026 election: National leads with 8% of vote counted in tight contest
New Zealand has voted after six weeks of campaigning, politicking and debates, in a contest billed as one of the tightest elections in recent memory. With 8% of the vote counted, National leads on 31.2%, followed by Labour on 28.4%, the Greens on 12.9%, Act on 11.2%, NZ First on 9.6%, Opportunity on 5.7% and Te Pāti Māori on 0.4%. Those early figures would point toward a right-leaning bloc remaining in play, but they are only a first slice of the night.
For weeks, polls had shown no clear path to government for any potential coalition, left or right, and no coalition was expected to secure a majority of seats. Voters appeared unimpressed by National and Labour and had been shifting toward smaller parties, including the centrist Opportunity party. Opportunity could still emerge as kingmaker if that pre-election support holds, or that hype may fail to translate into votes as more results arrive. Counts will continue over the coming hours, and the shape of any government will depend on how those remaining ballots land.
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