New Zealand votes for change: multimillionaire Christopher Luxon (53) becomes the new head of government

class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>

After six years of a social democratic Labor government, New Zealand has voted for change: the Pacific state will in future be led by a conservative alliance under the National Party. The designated prime minister is party leader Christopher Luxon (53).

“Now we have to deliver for all New Zealanders,” the 53-year-old multi-millionaire said in his victory speech. According to observers, the promised tax cuts in particular have convinced many voters. “We have listened to the people who need tax relief to pay their grocery bills,” Luxon emphasized.

Coalition with the right-wing liberal ACT party likely

According to previous calculations, the National Party has 50 seats in the 120-member parliament. However, the ‘special votes’ of voters who voted outside their constituency must still be counted.

A minimum of 61 mandates are required to form a government. A coalition is therefore planned with the right-wing liberal party ACT, which has eleven votes. “Based on the results we see tonight, the National Party and ACT can form a government,” Luxon said confidently. As things stand, a difficult alliance with the populist anti-immigration party New Zealand First is not necessary.

The future head of government is a successful businessman and has worked for the consumer goods company Unilever for a long time, including leading the company’s branch in Canada. In 2011, he became director of domestic airline Air New Zealand. He has only been a member of parliament since 2020 and from that moment on his political career took off.

Ruling party bitterly punished

The previous Labor Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (45) admitted defeat that evening and congratulated Luxon. His party is the big loser: Labor only got 34 seats, losing almost half of its previous mandates.

Hipkins only became prime minister in January after his world-famous predecessor Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly resigned. “We are now playing an important role in the opposition by holding the government to account,” he said.

About 3.8 million citizens were called to the polls. Voting has been open since October 2 and around a million people took advantage of this offer before Election Day. The election results are expected to be officially announced on November 3. (SDA/ced)

Source: Blick