Christopher Luxon has spoken to the party faithful after securing a big election win tonight, saying: "We will make this an even better country."
"Tomorrow morning, New Zealanders are going to wake up to not only a new day, but the promise of a new government and a new direction," the incoming PM said.
"You have given us the mandate to take New Zealand forward."
He then congratulated ACT's David Seymour, who will now be part of his coalition in government. Luxon acknowledged the outgoing prime minister Chris Hipkins and Labour.
"Earlier this evening, I took a call from Labour leader Chris Hipkins conceding the election. I thanked him for serving New Zealand as prime minister, and I wished him well. And I wish him well because it's obviously a tough night for Labour."
Luxon said the party had "splashed blue all over the country" and that New Zealand can now "be so much better than it is".
Earlier, Labour leader Chris Hipkins gave a concession speech to his party's supporters. The outgoing prime minister told supporters the Labour Government will now operate in a "caretaker mode" until "the new administration is sworn in".
However, there remains uncertainty about how significant a majority Luxon will wield as returns currently show him holding a wafer-thin majority with ACT of 61 seats.
In his victory speech, Luxon struck a conciliatory tone with New Zealand First and Winston Peters who, prior to the election, he said he preferred to avoid working with.
"I also congratulate Winston Peters on New Zealand First's return to Parliament and I appreciate his comments this evening that he is willing to help where needed."
A total of 61 seats are usually needed to form a government but "overhang" seats could alter the maths and potentially open the door to New Zealand First.
Meanwhile, a jubilant David Seymour told supporters earlier tonight that a "record number have voted for real change" — referring to ACT's slogan this election.
"This country has voted for change and a record number have voted for real change." His party was set for 11 seats with 94% of the vote counted.
New Zealand First will be heading back into Parliament with 8 MPs. Peters told supporters in Russell that people had laughed at the idea of NZ First coming back, "they're not laughing now are they".
Party vote totals
As of 12.05am with 97% of votes counted.
National: 39% (50 seats)
Labour: 27% (34 seats)
Greens: 11% (14 seats)
ACT: 9% (11 seats)
New Zealand First: 6% (eight seats)
Te Pāti Māori: 2.5% (four electorate seats)
Other parties: 5%
National's campaign manager Chris Bishop said: "It does look like a very big swing to National", while Finance Minister Grant Robertson said it was clearly not the result Labour was looking for.
Greens co-leader James Shaw said it was a "very tough night" for "our [Labour] friends" while celebrating his own party's record gains.
"A lot of good people will not return to Parliament next week."
His party held 10.7% of the party vote. National had 39.3% of the vote with 94% of votes counted, surpassing expectations.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the picture is grim for Labour who are facing a loss of 29 MPs from the last election in 2020.
'Extraordinary shift'
Former Labour leader David Cunliffe described it as an “extraordinary shift” against his party. “There is a real debate going to have to happen about Labour playing to the centre,” he said.
Get the latest results on our Your Vote 2023 page here
Former Labour minister Kris Faafoi said the early results indicated it could be a "very uncomfortable night" ahead for some of his former colleagues.
"I don't expect many people expected National to get into the 40s and now they are at 41."
Electorate-level results across the country are also indicating a bloodbath for Labour candidates with close margins in battleground seats.
Meanwhile, former National leader Simon Bridges said the trickle of results being released tonight felt very different to election night for him three years ago when Labour secured a majority.
He was asked how things would be going at National's party headquarters.
"It'll be a very different atmosphere to 2020," he said. "There's no denying they'll be excited. It'll be higher than they, I think, were expecting.
"Nearly 41% is a big number, as compared to what we've seen in the polls."
Bridges was ousted as party leader months before witnessing National's defeat at the 2020 election.
Watch the 1News Election Special on 1News.co.nz, TVNZ 1 or TVNZ+ for live results and analysis
What do these results mean?
The campaign is over, polling places are closing and the votes are being counted.
Vote counting is expected to wrap up today by about 11pm.
The first votes counted are the early votes cast before election day itself. These will overwhelmingly account for the results making up the immediate releases after 7pm.
Results from election day votes themselves will slowly ramp up over the night until 100% of the ordinary votes are counted.
However, these numbers will still exclude the special votes. Those ballots are mainly from newly enrolled voters and people voting outside of their normal electorate. If the results are close, then the special votes could make a difference in some electorates.
Those votes won't ultimately be fully counted until 20 days after the election when the official result of the election is declared.
Long queue for some Kiwis to vote
A technical fault with voting systems has contributed to long queues at some polling places today. According to electoral officials, the electronic electoral roll system crashed this morning, causing delays for people casting a special vote.
Officials said the fault was fixed by early afternoon.
High demand for voting has also contributed to queues at polling places.
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