New Zealand's governing National Party leads in early results, Labour close behind

New Zealand's governing centre-right National Party is leading in the early results of the country's general election. According to the early results, the party has won 30.81 percent of the votes.

The opposition centre-left Labour Party has won 29.99 percent of the votes. With less than one percentage point separating the two main parties, the race looks extremely tight.

The country's electoral commission said the centrist Opportunity party will meet the threshold to enter parliament.

Polling stations opened at 9am local time on Saturday and closed at 7pm. In Greenwich Mean Time, voting ran from 20:00 on Friday to 06:00 on Saturday.

In the early results, the gap between the two main parties is very small. The final picture will become clearer as the vote count progresses.

The final results have not yet been announced. Based on the early results, the outcome looks set to remain tense until the very end.