Tauranga, City in the North Island, New Zealand

Wellington, Oct 17 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday won a landslide victory in the country's general elections held earlier in the day, securing her a second term in office.With most ballots tallied, Ardern's ruling Labour Party has won 49 per cent of the vote and is projected to win 64 seats - enough for an outright majority, which will be a first in the country since it introduced a voting system known as Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP) in 1996, the BBC reported.According to the Electoral Commission, opposition centre-right National Party, currently on 27 per cent, has admitted defeat in Saturday's poll.The ACT New Zealand and Green parties came in third with 8 per cent of the votes.Addressing her supporters following the results, Ardern said: "New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in almost 50 years."We will not take your support for granted. And I can promise you we will be a party that governs for every New Zealander."After conceding, National Party's leader Judith Collins congratulated Ardern and promised her party would be a "robust opposition", adding "we will be back".Saturday's election was initially scheduled for September 19 but was postponed due to a second Covid-19 outbreak.The previous Parliament, which was elected on September 23, 2017, was officially dissolved on September 6 paving the way for the polls, Xinhua news agency.Polling stations across the country opened at 9 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m.More than a million people have already voted in early polling which opened on October 3.Besides the general election vote, New Zealanders also cast their ballots for two referendums on end of life choice and legalisation of the recreational use of cannabis.Preliminary referendum results will be released on October 30, and the official results of the election and referendums will be released on November 6.( With inputs from IANS )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

TaurangaFOLLOW

Tauranga, Latest News

Fast-bowling allrounder Romario Shepherd will replace the injured Dwayne Bravo in the West Indies T20 squad for the upcoming ... ...

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 22 World Junior Badminton Championships 2020, slated to be held in New Zealand, have been ... ...

Romario Shepherd will replace injured Dwayne Bravo in the T20I squad for their upcoming tour to New Zealand, the Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced on Wednesday (local time). ...

Auckland seam bowler Ben Lister has become the first COVID-19 substitute after he was named as a replacement for batsman Mark Chapman. ...

Abu Dhabi, Oct 18 Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson on Sunday was the star as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ... ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern for securing a second term in ... ...

New Delhi, Oct 18 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern on her ... ...

Wellington, Oct 17 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Saturday won a landslide victory in the country's general ... ...