Based on these results, there will be 122 seats in the new parliament:
Labor 50 (a center-left party) Nationals 49 (a center-right party) NZ First 7 (a conservative party) Greens 6 (a radical-left party) Maori 4 (an aboriginal party) United 3 (a Christian centrist party) ACT 2 (a libertarian party) Progressives 1 (a left-wing party)
While Labor (barely) got the most seats, National may have the inside track. This is because National and NZ First appear to have cooperated with Maori, United and ACT in the election.
With respect to United, they gained seats because they finished first in at least one district (actually, in exactly one district). This is the district in which the leader of the United Party was running, where it is clear that a lot of Nationals pulled his lever down with their "first vote." I say this because in the "second vote," for party list, the district went overwhelming National.
The same thing happened in the one district in which an ACT candidate was directly elected; i.e., a lot of Nationals voted for the ACT candidate.
(This is also the same thing that happened in the district where the one progressive candidate was elected, being supported by Labor.)
With respect to the Maori Party, their candidates were elected in four of the six special districts in which only aboriginals can vote. In all six districts, the race was between Labor and the Maori Party. Neither National or NZ First contested these districts.
Not only didn't National or NZ First run against the Maori Paty candidate, a significant number of voters who cast their first vote for the candidate of the Maori Party, cast their second vote for either National or NZ First.
It is possible, then, that the next government will be organized from the following five parties:
National (49) + NZ First (7) + Maori (4) + United (3) + ACT (2) = 65 seats
with the opposition being composed of
Labor (50) + Greens (6) + Progressives (1) = 57 seats
So that biznitch Helen Clark might be kicked out? Sweet.
So there's hope after all!
I would more likely expect Nationals 49 + NZ 1st 7 + United 3 + ACT 2 = 61, exactly half of 122 and nobody is in charge. Nice.
I've been following this election and the one in Germany, holding my breath and hoping.
The US MSM doesn't report anything other than sound bites and sensationalism so the import hasn't hit them yet.