The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has postponed the country’s general election by a month amid a spike in coronavirus cases.

Originally, the vote was due to take place on September 19th, however has now been postponed until October 17th.

Earlier in the week, the largest city in the country was forced back into lockdown, and Ms Arden has said that by having a new date parties can plan their campaigns around coronavirus.

“This decision gives all parties time over the next nine weeks to campaign and the Electoral Commission enough time to ensure an election can go ahead,” Ms Ardern said, adding that she had “absolutely no intention” of allowing any further delays to the vote.

The delay of the election has also been agreed by the opposition party as they believed Ms Ardern would have an unfair advantage.

New Zealand went 102 without any coronavirus cases, until last week forcing them back into lockdown.

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