National wins most electorates in 2026 election, with 29 percent of the party vote
National won the most seats in the 2026 New Zealand election, collecting 42 electorates on election night. The party received 29 percent of the party vote and won no list seats, according to RNZ. The party vote is used to work out how many seats each party has in Parliament, and list seats are filled from party lists under New Zealand's mixed-member proportional (MMP) system.
Four National figures lost their places in Parliament: Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith and Gerry Brownlee. Five first-time National MPs were elected: Mahesh Muralidhar, Blair Cameron, Matthew Paul, Lloyd Budd and Jess Rowe.
Ministerial warrants, the formal documents that allow an MP to hold a ministerial role, for the MPs who lost their seats expire in 28 days. Their portfolios will need to be redeployed before then.
Christopher Luxon was prime minister heading into the election and was seeking another three years in power, according to The Guardian. Labour secured just short of 30 percent of the popular vote, according to Al Jazeera. Labour won just two extra seats compared with its 2023 result, RNZ reported.
ACT and New Zealand First combined for 20 percent of the vote, compared with 14 percent combined three years earlier. Each party increased its party vote by roughly three percent. The Opportunity Party broke through the five percent threshold, which a party must reach to win list seats unless it wins an electorate. The Green Party recorded its most successful election result ever.
Te Pati Māori won five of the seven Māori seats on election night. Broadcaster Paul Henry entered Parliament as an ACT MP, and former All Black Taine Randell entered as a New Zealand First MP, the New Zealand Herald reported. Antonia Modkova also entered as an ACT MP, and Dominik Yanzick entered as a Labour MP.
RNZ's analysis projected 11 overhang seats, which are extra seats added to Parliament when a party wins more electorates than its party vote would otherwise entitle it to. Six of those projected overhang seats were for National. Special votes, which are counted after election night, were due back 20 days after election night.
