Conservative, Christopher Luxon will become the next Prime Minister of New Zealand after the country swung to the right and voted for the National Party in a resounding defeat of Labour.
The weekend’s election was mostly projected to be a race between two main parties led by men named Chris. Three years ago, New Zealanders were choosing between parties led by women.
Luxon’s been in politics for just one term, following a long career in business that saw him rise to become the well-known CEO of Air New Zealand.
During his victory speech over the weekend, he told voters “you have reached for hope and you have voted for change.”
Such hope includes a promise to lead the country out of a cost of living crisis, with the millionaire and businessman stating that “we listened to the people needing interest rates to come down so they can pay their mortgage” and that they listened against those needing “tax relief to help pay for the grocery bills.”
He also highlighted a “work hard and succeed” ideal on the campaign trail and during his speech on Saturday night. “The promise of New Zealand is quite simply that if you work hard in the best country on planet Earth, you should be able to get ahead,” he said.
Overall, the National Party achieved a significant victory over the Labour party, led by Chris Hipkins since former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she would be stepping down earlier this year. Labour lost voters to both left and right-leaning parties over the weekend to achieve just a quarter of the vote, marking a shift in Ardern’s popularity that saw Labour achieve around 50 per cent of the vote at the previous election.
This election the campaign also featured little on subjects like domestic and family violence and pay equity, which had previously garnered more attention in previous years, especially under Ardern’s leadership.
A number of women in politics also expressed safety concerns during the election campaign.
Green Party co leader Marama Davidson recently told the New York Times that, “as a brown woman in politics, things are particularly hostile.” National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis has previously stated that abuse affects women from all sides of politics.
Elected to parliament in October 2020, Christopher Luxon is a committed Christian (although he describes his faith as “personal”) and has been described as hard-working, disciplined, corporate and careful with how much he shares about himself. Although deeply conservative, his maiden parliamentary speech did see him addressing the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address child poverty. While he is personally anti-abortion, he has promised there will be no change to abortion laws under his leadership.