The Latest Breaking News from Jacinda Ardern

Labour has lost almost half its caucus, while minor parties the Greens, ACT and the Maori Party recorded their best ever result in the New Zealand election.

Centre-right party loses two seats in final tally and will need to rely on traditional partner Act as well as NZ First to form coalition

Labour’s defeat shows clearly that voters treat policy failure by governments harshly, writes Peter Dunne

Proceedings are expected to last six weeks and will seek to ‘shine a light’ on what happened in March 2019.

Andrew Little’s exit from the Labour Party leadership is one of the defining moments in his career. He recounts the moment of brutal honesty that secured his fate and the six years as a minister that followed.

The new leader of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon will have to balance his pro-business policies with incremental redistribution

For an election ostensibly fought over a “cost-of-living crisis”, there was a strong unspoken consensus between the two major parties: most people’s living standards needed to reduce to thwart inflation. Regardless of the election result, a form of austerity was always going to win.

Chris Hipkins is still the leader of the Labour Party, though a leadership vote will be scheduled after the final election results come in, in line with party rules.

The party’s supporters feel like it got a kicking from everyone. After a dire result, analysts pointed to its inability to meet its lofty aspirations