NZ kingmaker party sees global backlash against populism

Qiulae Wong’s Opportunity Party could play a kingmaker role in New Zealand’s next government after a knife-edge vote in which neither of the country’s main parties won enough seats to govern alone. — AFP pic

First Published: Monday, 09 Nov 2026 10:49 AM MYT

WELLINGTON, Nov 9 — The leader of New Zealand’s ascendant centrist movement said today that voters worldwide were turning against populism after her party secured a record result in last week’s elections.

Qiulae Wong’s Opportunity Party could play a kingmaker role in New Zealand’s next government after a knife-edge vote in which neither of the country’s main parties won enough seats to govern alone.

Speaking outside parliament, she said her win represented a sea change after a decade of rising populism and extremism worldwide.

“I think we are seeing a push globally for more pragmatic politics,” she told journalists.

“We’ve seen that populism doesn’t deliver results,” she said.

“It is paper thin, it doesn’t have substance around taking countries forward.

“So it’s really encouraging to have had that support,” she said.

“Nearly 150,000 New Zealanders that have voted for Opportunity want to see that more pragmatic approach to politics.”

New Zealand faces weeks of political wrangling after results Sunday showed no clear winner from last week’s poll.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has declared his right-wing coalition secured a mandate to form the next government — while conceding results remained too close to call definitively.

Preliminary results have his National Party winning the most seats, giving them a slim majority if combined with their coalition partners, the populist NZ First and the libertarian ACT.

Luxon will run a caretaker government until the final votes are announced on November 27.

And while he has said he doesn’t think he will need Opportunity’s backing to form a new administration, Luxon has said he is open to working with the movement to get things done.

Wong has said she will work with whichever party has the largest number of seats — but insisted that her party’s “bottom lines” on climate change action, cost of living and cleaning up politics are non-negotiable.

She said today she had not yet heard from the prime minister but was keen to talk.

“We are coming to that table constructively with pragmatism and some bold ideas,” she said today.

“If they want to work with us and come to the table with the same kind of attitude, then that’s great.” — AFP