New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is all set to return for a second term as her Labour Party secured a landslide victory in the country's general elections on Saturday.
While the vote counting has not been finalized yet, the center-left Labour Party's massive lead was enough for Opposition leader Judith Collins to concede after phoning Ardern.
Here are more details.
With 2/3rds votes counted, Labour Party had secured 49.2% votes
According to Agence France-Presse, with two-thirds of the vote counted, the Labour Party had secured 49.2% of the votes and was forecasted to take roughly 64 seats in the 120-seat Parliament.
Notably, since 1996, when New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system, no leader has achieved an absolute majority in the country.
Ardern's performance also beat pre-election opinion polls.
Meanwhile, Collins' conservative National Party was expected to take around 35 seats, marking the party's worst performance in nearly 20 years.
Addressing a crowd of cheering supporters in Auckland, Collins said, "Congratulations on your result because it is, I believe, an outstanding result for the Labour Party. It has been a tough campaign."
Collins had only taken over the National Party in July.
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