New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has conceded defeat in the New Zealand election, and will step down as the leader of the Labour Party. Her opponent, John Key from the centre-right National Party, won 45% of the vote, according to preliminary results. Labour has managed to get 34%.

Since New Zealand introduced a proportional voting in 1996, no party has managed to get a majority of the 120 seats in parliament. According to official results, the Nationals has 59 seats, Labour has 43, the Greens have 8, Act has 5 seats, Maori has 5, and both Progressive and United Future have 1.

The Nationals are also looking to seek a partnership with the Maori Party to help stabilise the hung parliament. Either way, this brings an end to the nine-year reign of Helen Clark, who has been re-elected as the representative for her electorate.

"My job as leader of the Labour Party is complete. I will be standing down and I will be expecting my Labour Party colleagues to elect a new leader before Christmas," she told reporters.