Chris Hipkins concedes defeat, making Christopher Luxon the next prime minister of New Zealand

Conservative After gaining a convincing election victory on Saturday, former businessman Christopher Luxon will take office as New Zealand’s new prime minister.

After six years of a liberal administration, most of which was presided over by Jacinda Ardern, the people decided to vote for change.

As votes were still being tabulated, it was unclear exactly how Luxon’s conservative administration would be composed. Chris Hipkins, who took over as prime minister from Ardern in January and held the position for barely nine months, informed supporters late Saturday he had contacted Luxon to surrender.

Hipkins said that it wasn’t the outcome he desired.

He addressed fans at a Wellington event, “But I want you to feel proud of what we did over the previous six years.

In January, Ardern abruptly announced her resignation as prime minister, claiming she no longer had “enough in the tank” to fulfill the duties of the position. She easily won the most recent election, but as COVID-19 limitations became tiresome and the economy was threatened by inflation, her support began to dwindle.

Hipkins, 45, took over as leader when she departed. Formerly the minister of education, he oversaw the coronavirus pandemic response.

The National Party of Luxon had roughly 40% of the vote after more than two thirds of the ballots had been tallied. Luxon, 53, was anticipated to team up with the libertarian ACT Party under New Zealand’s proportional vote system.

The Labour Party, which Hipkins leads, was only receiving little more than 25% of the vote, which is less than half of what it received in the last election under Ardern.

And in an outcome that would be especially painful for Labour should it lose the seat, Ardern’s former constituency of Mount Albert was up for grabs. The constituency has traditionally been a bastion for the Labour party, and Helen Clark, another previous Labour prime minister, formerly represented it.

Melissa Lee, the National Party candidate for the position, told The Associated Press that she was anticipating the outcome in Mount Albert with excitement and trepidation.

Labor has been in power since 1946. It has always been the largest and safest Labour seat, she remarked. “Winning would be amazing,” was the statement.

Lee said that when she went door-to-door, individuals had expressed their dissatisfaction with the present administration as well as their worries about the status of the economy and the rising cost of living.

Longtime conservative pollster David Farrar predicted that when all the votes were cast, there was still a fair possibility that Labour would keep the seat. However, he said that his first assessment of the nation’s vote was that the left was going to experience a “bloodbath” in the process.

Luxon has pledged to reduce taxes for middle-class taxpayers and to step up efforts to combat crime. Hipkins had pledged to abolish sales taxes on fruits and vegetables as well as to provide free dental treatment to everyone under the age of 30.

The government’s connection with Indigenous Mori is another issue up for vote. The Mori Health Authority will be eliminated, according to Luxon, since it divides the healthcare system into two. Hipkins has charged Luxon of endorsing racism and expressed his pride in such co-governance initiatives.

Hipkins was faced with a dilemma shortly after taking over in January when terrible floods and then a hurricane struck New Zealand. He swiftly abandoned some of Ardern’s most divisive ideas and pledged to take a “back to basics” strategy aimed at addressing the skyrocketing cost of living.

In Auckland, the biggest metropolis, the warm spring weather seemed to inspire voters, as lines formed outside several voting stations. Compared to prior elections, fewer people cast ballots early.

Hipkins and Luxon traversed the nation and made faces for the cameras during a six-week election campaign.

In Wellington earlier this week, Luxon, the former CEO of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, promised to take gang activity seriously.

Crime is out of control in this nation, I’ve got to tell you that, Luxon remarked. And we’re going to bring back personal accountability along with law and order.

Luxon also received applause when he pledged to build a new tunnel project to ease the capital’s congested traffic.

Despite being relatively new to politics, Luxon competed well in televised debates with Hipkins, who had more political experience. But Luxon also made some mistakes, as when he was asked during a discussion on 1News how much he spent on food each week.

On social media, his response of “about sixty bucks” (US $36) was mocked as evidence that he was out of touch with daily expenses.