Labour leader Chris Hipkins says the shape of the next government remains unclear, as the governing parties retain a narrow projected majority and National leads Labour by just over 5,000 party votes.

RNZ reported at 11.14pm that Hipkins had told supporters at the Upper Hutt Cossie Club: “Every vote matters and every vote must now be counted.”

He said the next Parliament would require politicians to compromise and find common ground. He said it would take longer to know the exact shape of the next government.

Official Electoral Commission figures at 11.15pm projected 41 seats for National, 13 for ACT and 12 for New Zealand First. Their combined 66 seats were one above the 65 needed for a majority in the projected 129-member House. The preliminary count did not settle the formation of the next government.

Labour was projected to take 35 seats, the Greens 16, Opportunity seven and Te Pāti Māori five. Those four parties together had 63 seats, without establishing a governing agreement.

National had 677,732 party votes, or 29.34 percent, against Labour's 672,702, or 29.12 percent — a gap of 5,030. Nationwide, 90.8 percent of voting-place results had been counted, covering 2,309,442 party votes.

Mt Roskill remained a pivotal contest. Labour's Michael Wood led National's Carlos Cheung by 155 votes, with 77 of 100 voting-place results returned. Wood had 12,534 votes to Cheung's 12,379. Cheung had held a three-vote lead five minutes earlier.

National's projected seats were all electorates, leaving it with no list seats in the current allocation. The close electorate contests could still change the size and balance of Parliament.

In Wellington Bays, the Greens' Julie Anne Genter led Labour's Craig Renney by 62 votes with 95.9 percent of results returned. Genter had regained the lead earlier in the evening after Renney briefly moved ahead.

National's Ryan Hamilton led Labour's Georgie Dansey by 503 in Hamilton East at 95.8 percent. Labour's Ginny Andersen led National's Chris Bishop by 942 in Hutt South at 95 percent, while Labour's Kieran McAnulty was 309 ahead of National's Mike Butterick in Wairarapa at 82.4 percent.

National's Blair Cameron remained 1,210 ahead of Labour's Rachel Boyack in Nelson after all 47 voting-place results had been returned. That completed preliminary count excludes special votes and is not an official declaration.

Labour's Tracey McLellan led National's Vanessa Weenink by 2,179 in Banks Peninsula at 94.1 percent. National's Katie Nimon led Labour's Alex Hedley by 6,467 in Napier at 95.6 percent, while National's Catherine Wedd led Labour's Dan Scott by 8,788 in Tukituki at 95.7 percent.

The Greens had 13.32 percent of the party vote, ACT 11.01 percent, New Zealand First 9.81 percent and Opportunity 5.94 percent. Te Pāti Māori had 0.56 percent and led in five electorates.

Special votes are counted after election night and can change electorate margins and the seat allocation. Official results are expected on 27 November.