Perhaps the only party that did worse than National was NZ First. I’m thinking this might be the end of WINston’s long career in parliament. He’s 75 and will be 78 at the next election. I don’t think that NZ First will survive either; it always was something of a personality cult around WINston.
Is it safe to assume that the restrictionist policies that the Labour-NZ First alliance adopted on immigration during Ardern's first term will be loosened, now that NZ First is on the ropes? Presumably it was Winston Peters who pushed for them in the first place, and Ardern merely went along to preserve Labour's then-tenuous hold on power.