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Jacinda Ardern takes early lead in New Zealand's 'Covid election'
Jacinda Ardern was on track to achieve an unprecedented outright majority in New Zealand's general election Saturday after campaigning on her success handling the Covid-19 pandemic.With 10 percent of the vote counted, Ardern's centre-left Labour Party was on 49.9 percent, which would give it 64 seats in the 120-member parliament.No leader of any political persuasion has achieved an outright majority since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996, leading to a succession of multi-party governments.While the figures are early, they exceed pre-election opinion polls and, if they remain consistent, would represent Labour's strongest showing in decades.Opposition leader Judith Collins' centre-right National Party was on 26.0