No clear winner after tight New Zealand general election

There was no clear winner following New Zealand's election on Saturday, as the leaders of its two major parties preparing for negotiations to form a coalition government.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's centre-right National Party won 42 seats but was 19 short of the simple majority needed to form a government, despite being the largest party, preliminary results showed.

Combined with their coalition partners ACT and New Zealand First, they would have a slim lead over the left-leaning bloc if a deal could be reached.

But opposition leader Chris Hipkins, whose Labour Party won 36 seats, showed no signs of conceding, saying the "shape of the next government" will remain uncertain "for a while".

The tight result followed a campaign shaped by the cost of living and unemployment.

The electoral commission was not due to announced the official result until 27 November.

Luxon congratulated Hipkins on a "very hard-fought race" before addressing party colleagues, saying "whatever the final count, we are incredibly proud of each and everyone for you".

"The people have spoken," Hipkins said, adding: "It may take a bit longer to work out what they've said".

Hipkins said the results made clear the "next parliament is going to require all of us to compromise, to work together and to find a common ground".

More than 99% of votes have been counted in New Zealand, with National and Labour neck-and-neck in terms of vote share.

But the preliminary results pointed to historically low support for the two major parties, with a combined vote share of around 60%.

They were followed by the Greens, ACT, New Zealand First, centrist party Opportunity and Te Pāti Māori, which represents Māori interests.

The Opportunity Party crossed the 5% threshold to enter parliament for the first time, with leader Qiulae Wong saying would work with either side.

It has been described as this election's kingmaker as it remains open to working with either major bloc, but its leaders said they would negotiate first with the party that secures the most seats.

Speaking at Opportunity's watch party, Wong told supporters: "We believe that we can change the way we do politics to focus on the future, on the next generation, and on finding common ground."

Professor Andrew Geddis from the University of Otago, an expert in election law, said "the Opportunity Party as a wildcard player" could "determine which bloc of parties is able to govern".

"It will come down to some very fine vote margins not just between the parties, but in individual electorates. We are going to have to wait for the special votes to be processed and counted over the next three weeks," he said.

Special votes are votes cast outside a voter's electorate, including overseas.

The Greens – who have proposed forcing the country's two main supermarkets to divest stores to create publicly-owned shops – saw their vote rise by a couple of percentage points.

Julian McCrann, head of polling at Roy Morgan, told BBC News the cost of living was the main issue for many New Zealanders

"Three years ago, Luxon came in saying he'd be making New Zealanders' lives better and solving these economic issues, but he hasn't really delivered," he said.

New Zealand's mixed-member proportional voting system means most governments are coalitions.

Each voter makes two choices – for the representative of their constituency in parliament and a political party.