7 November 2026, 8.55pm NZDT NZE2026-NATIONAL | UPDATE 10
National, ACT and New Zealand First are back on a bare projected majority, with another lead change in Hamilton East giving National a 36-vote advantage in the closely fought seat.
Official Electoral Commission figures at 8.55pm projected 66 seats for the governing parties in a 131-member Parliament. That is exactly the number needed for a majority.
National's Ryan Hamilton had 9,781 electorate votes to Labour's Georgie Dansey's 9,745, with 31 of 72 voting-place results counted. Dansey had been 94 votes ahead five minutes earlier.
Hamilton East has repeatedly changed leaders during the evening. The latest figures leave the contest unresolved, with 41 voting-place results still outstanding.
National's projected seat total rose to 42, all from electorates. ACT remained on 13 seats and New Zealand First on 11. Labour was projected to take 36 seats, the Greens 17, the Opportunity Party seven and Te Pāti Māori five.
Those four parties totalled 65 seats. Their combined number was one below a majority, and it did not represent an agreed governing arrangement.
At 8.40pm the projection had been evenly split, with the governing parties on 65 seats and the other parties also on 65 in a 130-member House. The changing size of Parliament and narrow electorate margins continued to make the overall position uncertain.
Labour still led the nationwide party vote, but its advantage had narrowed. It had 438,339 votes, or 29.83 percent, against National's 432,234, or 29.42 percent. The margin was 6,105 votes, compared with 8,347 at 8.40pm.
The Greens had 14.06 percent, ACT 10.54 percent, New Zealand First 9.35 percent and the Opportunity Party 5.43 percent. Te Pāti Māori had 0.58 percent and led in five electorates.
Nationwide, 32.4 percent of voting-place results had been counted, covering 1,469,053 party votes.
Mt Roskill remained close, with National's Carlos Cheung 135 votes ahead of Labour's Michael Wood. National's Lloyd Budd led Labour's Gary Payinda by 226 in Whangārei.
In Nelson, National's Blair Cameron led Labour's Rachel Boyack by 385, with 48.9 percent of results counted. Labour's Ginny Andersen remained 815 ahead of National's Chris Bishop in Hutt South, while Tracey McLellan led Vanessa Weenink by 1,816 in Banks Peninsula.
Te Pāti Māori's Aperahama Edwards was 260 votes ahead of the Greens' Hūhana Lyndon in Te Tai Tokerau, with 27.1 percent of results counted.
National's Katie Nimon led Alex Hedley by 3,010 in Napier. Catherine Wedd was 5,867 ahead of Dan Scott in Tukituki.
The count remains preliminary. Special votes are counted after election night and can change electorate margins and the allocation of seats.