Final election results: National loses two, Labour, Māori Party pick up one

The final election results are in and National has lost two seats, Labour has gained one, the Māori Party is back with two seats and the "yes" campaign on recreational cannabis has lost.

Three electorate seats have changed hands, but the only seat in contention in the South - Invercargill - has been held by National candidate Penny Simmonds.

The final results of the 2020 election also confirmed the Māori Party's Rawiri Waititi has won Waiariki over Labour's Tamati Coffey, who will still be in Parliament as a list MP.

But with an increase to 1.2% in the party vote, Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer will enter Parliament as a list MP.

Three seats have changed hands since the provisional results: Labour's Priyanca Radhakrishnan has won Maungakiekie over National's Denise Lee, Labour's Willow-Jean Prime has won Northland over National's Matt King, and Labour's Emily Henderson has won Whangārei over National's Shane Reti.

Reti will remain in Parliament as a list MP, but Lee and King are out of Parliament pending any recounts.

Their electorate losses and list positions mean that Maureen Pugh - who already started packing up her office in anticipation of losing her seat - keeps her place as a National list MP.

Northland is now the country's most marginal seat, with a 163 vote margin, and applications for any recounts have to be filed with a District Court by November 11.

Henderson is Labour's new MP, while Green MP Chloe Swarbrick has held on to Auckland Central.

The final results - which include 504,625 special votes, or 17% of the total - will not change the parliamentary majority that Labour holds, or the Labour-Greens cooperation agreement that has already been signed.

But they determine the number of each parties' MPs in Parliament.

The provisional results three weeks ago were: Labour on 49.1% (64 seats), National on 26.8% (35 seats), Act on 8% (10 seats), the Greens on 7.6% (10 seats), and the Māori Party with the seat of Waiariki.

The final results have Labour on 50% (65 seats), National on 25.6% (33 seats), Act on 7.6% (10 seats), the Greens on 7.9% (10 seats), and the Māori Party with 1.2% (two seats).

The final referendum results are 65.1% (down 0.1%) supporting the End of Life Choice Bill in the euthanasia vote, and 50.7% (down from 53.1%) voting against legalising recreational cannabis.

Fifty% is the largest share of the party vote for Labour since 1946, and the first time a party has won 50% or more of the party vote since National in 1951.

It is also the largest gap between Labour and National since the two-party system began in 1938.

Official turn out for the 2020 election was 82.2%, up from 79.8% in 2017 and 77.9% in 2014.

Far more people voted in advance - 67.7% - than in previous elections.

Final enrolment was 94.1% of eligible voters, the highest since 2008.

Party vote - main points

• National has two fewer seats and Labour and the Māori Party each have one more:
• The number of seats in Parliament will be 120.
• The Labour Party has 65 seats compared with 64 on election night.
• The National Party has 33 seats compared with 35 on election night.
• The Māori Party has 2 seats compared with 1 on election night.
• ACT New Zealand and the Green Party remain unchanged with 10 seats each.

Electorate vote - main points

Three electorate results have changed since election night:

• Labour Party candidate Priyanca Radhakrishnan has won Maungakiekie with a majority of 635 votes over National Party candidate Denise Lee.
• Labour Party candidate Willow-Jean Prime has won Northland with a majority of 163 votes over National Party candidate Matt King.
• Labour Party candidate Emily Henderson has won Whangārei with a majority of 431 votes over National Party candidate Shane Reti.
• All other electorate candidates leading on election night have been confirmed as winning their seats.