Clark refuses to set coalition deadline

Helen Clark has refused to commit to a timeline for the formation of a government despite today's final election results giving Labour a clear advantage.

After counting of special votes was completed, National lost one seat to leave it with 48 in the new Parliament while Labour held on to 50 seats. Helen Clark is therefore in the boxseat to form a coalition with the Greens, Jim Anderton's Progressives and one or more of the other minor parties.

National's Don Brash conceded defeat in a phonecall to the Labour leader, but said he was staying on to lead a strong opposition.

Helen Clark, arriving in Nelson for an engagement with Prince Andrew this afternoon, said she would not commit to a timeline as she did not wish to put pressure on her potential supporters.

She earlier said she welcomed the result as it showed that Labour had held on to its support from the 2002 election. She confirmed that discussions with other parties were likely to take place next week.

She said she had received a phonecall from Dr Brash and thanked him for the gesture. The Prime Minister also had congratulated him for rebuilding National after the disastrous election result in 2002.

The final results gave Labour 41 per cent of the vote, National 39 per cent.

The Greens failed to gain any extra seats from the special votes and will have six in Parliament. Nandor Tanczos will therefore no longer be an MP.

Green leader Rod Donald said: "There was very definitely a two-party squeeze and that was disappointing because Parliament will be less representative of the community than it has been.''

But he added: "The silver lining from the result is that it does confirm that Helen Clark will be the next Prime Minister and that she will be able to put together a strong stable government.''

New Zealand First will be the third biggest party in Parliament with seven MPs, while the Maori Party will have four, United Future three, ACT two and Progressives one.

There are a total of 121 seats in Parliament and Helen Clark needs to build a majority of 61 to pass crucial legislation.

- NZPA, HERALD ONLINE STAFF

* Click on 'more pictures' at top of page for election result graphic.