New Zealand election: Guide to the 2026 New Zealand election as Chris Luxon and Chris Hipkins go head-to-head

More than 1.4 million New Zealanders have already voted in the November 7 election.

Chris Luxon, the prime minister and National party leader, is pitching for a second term for his conservative coalition, which includes minor parties ACT and NZ First.

Labour is attempting to re-take the Beehive ministerial offices, led by Chris Hipkins, who lost the 2023 election after succeeding Jacinda Ardern.

Recent polls show the right bloc with a wafer-thin lead over the left bloc, which also includes the Greens and Maori Party.

A new teal party, Opportunity, has emerged through the middle and could play kingmaker if it clears the five per cent threshold to enter parliament.

THE PARTIES AND LEADERS

• National (conservative) led by Chris Luxon, 56, former executive

Mr Luxon has led a busy government, with major reforms in education, planning, infrastructure and more but Kiwis haven’t warmed to the ex-Air New Zealand boss’s corporate style

• Labour (centre-left) led by Chris Hipkins, 48, former adviser

The affable Mr Hipkins has held on to the leadership since losing office with steady-as-she-goes attacks on the government cuts and a laser-like focus on the cost of living

• Greens (left-wing) co-led by Marama Davidson, 52, human rights advocate and Chloe Swarbrick, 32, ex-lawyer

They have endured the term from hell with personal tragedies, scandal and MP turnover, but polling has swollen in recent months in response to a big-ambition agenda

• NZ First (populist) led by Winston Peters, 81, lawyer and long-time politician

The enduring force of Kiwi politics put Ms Ardern’s Labour into power but after a spell out of parliament, he is now aligned with the right, veering towards Trumpism and against “woke”

• ACT (libertarian) led by David Seymour, 42, ex-engineer

The right-wingers are also enjoying a polling bump after recruiting star broadcaster Paul Henry and arguing to cut government harder

• The Maori Party (indigenous rights) co-led by Rawiri Waititi, 45, Maori leader, and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, 59, health leader

Led massive nationwide protests to constitutional reforms in 2025 but now in complete disarray amid fallings out and accusations of fraud

• Opportunity (centrist) led by Qiulae Wong, 38, former consultant

Led by a first-timer after the party advertised for a leader, Ms Wong has argued for long-term bipartisan fixes on climate, health and integrity in politics

THE BIG ISSUES

• Affordability

The cost of living remains the top election issue. Inflation is lower but still high, unemployment hit a new 11-year high during the election campaign, and long-promised growth is yet to materialise

• Health

A rotten flu season, revelations of low hospital hiring levels and horror stories of “corridor care” have bumped health up the second in the issues rank. Health Minister Simeon Brown says National inherited a system in crisis and says wait lists for surgeries and in emergency are down. Labour promises free GP visits funded by a new capital gains tax

• Luxon’s leadership

He is comfortably the least-popular first-term prime minister in generations and has survived two confidence votes. Labour has targeted the to make the election a referendum on the multimillionaire ex-Air New Zealand boss

• Strategic voting

New Zealand’s electoral system is being “gamed” by minor parties on the far left and far right in order to give their side of politics a better chance of winning - though it could mean the winning coalition wins fewer votes on the whole than the other. While minor parties are on the up, Kiwis don’t seem to have warmed to the tactical voting plan

THE POLLING

• Right bloc: 48 per cent (National 28, NZ First 10, ACT 10)
• Left bloc: 45 per cent (Labour 29, Greens 15, Maori Party 1)
• Unaligned: 6 (Opportunity 6)