10 Dec 2011

Greens pick up seat from National in final poll result

2:02 pm on 10 December 2011

The National Party has lost a seat in the final results from last month's general election.

National had 60 seats on election night but in the official results declared by the Electoral Commission on Saturday afternoon, which include special votes, it has 59 seats.

The Green Party has picked up the seat from National and now has 14 MPs.

That means Mojo Mathers, who is number 14 on the Greens' list, will become the country's first deaf MP.

In the referendum on the electoral system people voted overwhelmingly in favour of retaining the current system.

MMP got nearly 58% support, while just over 42% voted to change the electoral system.