Her re-election poses questions for centre-right governments around the world – including that of Scott Morrison – about what voters want and expect from their leaders in the time of COVID-19.
But first,the New Zealand Prime Minister faces a difficult choice – whether,with a likely 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament,she chooses to go it alone or whether she enters into some sort of coalition arrangement and parcels out ministries to the Greens.
In Australia,a majority-holding Labor Party wouldn't countenance inviting the Greens in to share power.
But New Zealand's political system skews towards coalitions and there is precedent for governments (such as John Key's after the 2011 election) to enter into broader coalitions than are strictly necessary to give themselves a few seats buffer in the Parliament.
On current projections,56.7 per cent of New Zealanders have voted for a centre-left party (Labour with 49.1 per cent and the Greens 7.6 per cent) and the parties worked together well from 2017-2020.
It would fit with Ardern's brand of consensus politics to work with the Greens – Labour may need them to form government in three years'time,after all. Several politics professors predicteda Labour-Greens alliance before this huge win.