Labour leader Jacinda Ardern secures election victory after being re-elected as New Zealand’s Prime Minister, securing her second term in the country’s top spot.

Hailed for her success in handling New Zealand’s battle against the coronavirus (and generally adored worldwide for her progressive thinking), the landslide victory comes as no surprise.

Tipped to win from the start, with 77% of ballots counted the Electoral Commission revealed Labour already clocked in 49% of the votes, well ahead of National at 27%.

“New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in almost 50 years,” the Prime Minister said after her triumphant win. She went on to declare the country would recover from COVID-19 better than before.

“We will not take your support for granted. And I can promise you we will be a party that governs for every New Zealander,” she said.

In what would be a historic event, Labour has likely secured enough seats to form a single-party government (with no support of a coalition partner required). This ground-breaking feat has not been reached since New Zealand introduced their proportional voting system in the 90s.

If unable to form a Labour-only government, Ardern is expected to continue relying on the Greens, which would result in the first fully left-leaning government in decades.

It appears the 40 year old’s popularity wasn’t hindered in the slightest after she locked down the country’s largest city for the second time and postponed the election. The election was delayed for a month after new COVID-19 cases infected Auckland, but before the polling booths opened this morning a record number of votes had already been submitted in advance.

Today’s victory is a thumping win for Jacinda Ardern, for the people of New Zealand, and frankly, for the rest of the world too.

Check out Jacinda Ardern’s thank you speech after her victory:

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