Image by Allen Feng.
Three and a half weeks on from election day, New Zealand finally has a government, and it's Labour.A tight election put New Zealand First leader Winston Peters in the deciding seat, and at a press conference this evening he announced he'd be forming a coalition with left-wing bloc Labour and the Greens.
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern will be New Zealand's next prime minister—the country's third woman to hold the position. This breaks a long winning streak for centre-right National, who have been in power since 2008.
After special votes, Labour and the Greens held 43.2 percent of the vote, against National's 44.4.
The final count took a Labour-Greens coalition to 54 seats—with Labour on 46 and the Greens on eight—compared to National's 56 seats. Winston Peters' NZ First party held nine, making them key to deciding the next government.
In his announcement, Peters said the party was responding to New Zealanders' desire for change, and people were tired of "today's capitalism".
We interviewed the now-PM in the lead to the election, as she began her bid for leadership. You can watch that here: