New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has until 4 December to choose his next finance minister, after Nicola Willis lost her seat in parliament in the general election held on 7 November. Willis, who has held the finance role since 2023, will continue only in a caretaker capacity while the final result remains unresolved.

The deadline follows from New Zealand's Constitution Act. Ministers who are no longer members of parliament may stay in office until the official declaration of the election results, which is due on 3 December, with one further day allowed for them to step down. That leaves Luxon a narrow window to settle one of the most important appointments in any government.

Why Willis lost her seat

Willis stood as a list-only candidate, meaning she depended on her party's share of the vote rather than winning an electorate. National won the most seats in the election, but its party vote fell to 29 per cent, leaving it without list MPs to bring her back into parliament. Labour finished narrowly ahead on the party vote, with 29.36 per cent against National's 29.21 per cent, a gap of about 3,650 votes.

The overall result is still too close to call. Preliminary figures give the National-led bloc of National, ACT and New Zealand First a combined 67 of 131 seats, just one above a majority. Nearly 400,000 special votes, around 14 per cent of the total, are yet to be counted, with the count due on 27 November.

Nineteen portfolios to reallocate

Luxon must also find replacements for Attorney-General Chris Bishop and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, who both lost their seats but continue in caretaker roles. Together with Willis, the three held 19 portfolios that will need to be reallocated. Luxon said on 9 November that the finance minister would be a National MP, and the role is expected to stay within the party even as coalition talks continue. Read the London Daily News report and the Red Hot Singapore report.