Luxon, Hipkins won't commit to coalition by Christmas

Neither Christopher Luxon nor Chris Hipkins will put a deadline on coalition talks, leaving open the possibility that negotiations to form the next government could extend past Christmas.

Luxon, the National Party leader, was asked about the timeframe on RNZ's Morning Report on Monday and was non-committal, according to RNZ reporting. RNZ

He said he hopes a coalition deal can be put together before Christmas but that it will take as long as it takes. He indicated formal negotiations would likely wait until the final vote count is released on 27 November.

That final count will come nearly three weeks after polling day. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said on Sunday he would make it a priority to get a coalition deal done before Christmas but could not guarantee it.

Luxon led a three-party coalition government into the 2026 election, with Hipkins leading Labour. In August, Luxon called a meeting of National lawmakers in Wellington to address leadership speculation. He survived confidence votes by National MPs in April and August 2026. Reuters

At that time his rating as preferred prime minister was 17 percent, compared with 15 percent for Hipkins, who was 48. Reuters

In recent elections, forming a government has taken weeks after the final count. In 2023, National, ACT and New Zealand First signed their coalition agreements 41 days after voting day and 21 days after the final count.

In 2017, Winston Peters announced his decision to go with Labour 26 days after the election and 12 days after the final count, with agreements formally signed five days later.