Jacinda Ardern claims victory in New Zealand elections

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, right, is congratulated by her partner Clarke Gayford following her victory speech.

Credit: Mark Baker. /AP

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her centre-left Labour Party won a mandate in Saturday’s general election to lead the country for a second term and accelerate its response to Covid-19.

Ms Ardern told supporters after her landslide victory, "New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in almost 50 years."

"We will not take your support for granted. And I can promise you we will be a party that governs for every New Zealander," she said.

Voters rewarded Ardern’s centre-left Labour for its decisive response to Covid-19. Labour was on track to win 64 of the 120 seats in the country’s unicameral parliament, the highest by any party since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996.

If Labour wins more than half the seats, Ardern could form the first single-party government under the current system.

The mandate means Ardern, 40, could form the first single-party government in decades, and face the challenge of delivering on the progressive transformation she promised but failed to deliver in her first term, where Labour shared power with a nationalist party.

"This is a historic shift," said political commentator Bryce Edwards of Victoria University in Wellington, describing the vote as one of the biggest swings in New Zealand’s electoral history in 80 years.

Ms Ardern came out of her home in Auckland, waved and hugged gathered supporters. Opposition National Party leader Judith Collins said she had called the prime minister to congratulate her for an "outstanding result".

"People were very grateful and very happy with how we’ve handled Covid, they like the shape of the plan that we’ve got going forward from here for the economy," said Finance Minister Grant Robertson, a top Labour MP.

Geoffrey Miller, analyst at political website Democracy Project, said the victory was "very much a personal triumph for Jacinda Ardern’s ‘superstar’ popularity and brand."

 If she is unable to form a Labour-only government, she is expected to continue to rely on the minor Greens while jettisoning New Zealand First.

A Labour-Green coalition would be the first fully left-leaning government since the 1970s, a scenario that National’s Collins warned would mean more taxes and an environment hostile to business.

Ms Ardern has pledged to raise taxes on top earners, while Collins promised short-term tax cuts, but they have otherwise shown few major differences on policy.

The prime minister won global acclaim for her handling of a mass shooting last year by a white supremacist in Christchurch, with her inclusive "be strong, be kind" mantra and swift action to ban guns.

She burnished that reputation this year with a "go hard, go early" approach to the new coronavirus, which has eliminated locally spread Covid-19 in the nation.

The election was delayed by a month after new infections in Auckland, that led to a second lockdown in the country’s largest city.

While known internationally for promoting progressive causes such as woman’s rights and social justice, at home Ms Ardern faced criticism that her government failed on a promise to be transformational.

Life is back to normal in New Zealand, but its borders are still shut, its tourism sector is bleeding and economists predict a lasting recession after the harsh lockdowns.

The economy shrank at an 12.2% annual clip in the second quarter, its steepest drop since the Great Depression. Debt is forecast to rise to 56 percent of gross domestic product from less than 20% before the pandemic.

New Zealanders also voted on Saturday in referendums to legalise euthanasia and recreational marijuana, with results to be announced on October 30.

The latter vote could make New Zealand only the third country in the world to allow the adult use and sale of cannabis nationwide, after Uruguay and Canada.