7 Oct 2017

'We have a strengthened mandate' - Ardern

9:27 pm on 7 October 2017

Video - Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern says negotiations will start in earnest this weekend after it picked up another seat today.

Check out RNZ's live coverage here and an infographic with the full final results.

Watch Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern's standup here:

Ms Ardern said the party had a strengthened mandate now that the results were in and her goal was to form a stable and durable coalition government.

"It's an MMP environment, we've been in very similar situations to this one before, this is not a new scenario, I think they [National] absolutely understand that the majority of New Zealanders voted against the status quo and it's now up to those major parties to negotiate and form that coalition government."

With the special votes factored in, the party has 46 seats after picking up 36.9 percent of the party vote, bringing in Angie Warren-Clark on the list.

Ms Warren-Clark lives in Bay of Plenty and will be trading in her management role at the Tauranga Women's Refuge for Parliament.

But she told RNZ that she would be taking her experiences with her and she would never forget the stories of women and children at the women's refuge and would fight for gender and child poverty issues.

Jacinda Ardern said the majority of New Zealanders voted for change and against the status quo.

She expected negotiations with potential support parties would begin this weekend and would not take longer than five days.

Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern after the final election results were announced.

Labour Party leader Jacinda Ardern after the final election results were announced. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

Talks with the Greens and New Zealand First would be held separately.

"We're focussed on doing it as quickly as possible, but we will do it responsibly."

She said she was not making any assumptions about what each party wanted and that would be subject for negotiation.

"It's all about finding what's going to work in the best interests of all parties.

"In these negotiations we're all working towards what we believe to be the best interests of all New Zealanders, doing the best we can to act responsibly in these negotiations, they're incredibly important."