The leader of the Labour Party and new opposition leader Chris Hipkins has congratulated Christopher Luxon on becoming the next prime minister.

Hipkins resigned as caretaker PM this morning, having spent longer in the role than he probably expected after October’s election defeat. It’s been 44 days since polls closed and Hipkins knew he had been ousted.

“On behalf of the Labour Party I would like to congratulate Christopher Luxon on his appointment as prime minister,” Hipkins said in a statement.

“I wish Mr Luxon and his coalition partners well.

“New Zealand has been through some tough times but we are seeing the economy turning a corner, wages growing and climate emissions reducing. I hope this progress continues.

“I also encourage the new government to commit to continue funding the public services that New Zealanders need and rely on.”

Christopher Luxon is now officially New Zealand’s 42nd prime minister, having just given the oath of allegiance at a ceremony at Government House.

The rest of the executive team, which includes ministers from all three coalition partners, are now being sworn in.

The ceremony has taken place in the presence of the governor-general Dame Cindy Kiro who asked Luxon to confirm he could lead a government. Behind Dame Cindy, a large portrait of King Charles III hangs.

Earlier this morning, Chris Hipkins confirmed he had officially resigned as prime minister after 10 months. “From floods and cyclones to a King’s coronation, it’s been quite a ride,” the Labour leader wrote on Instagram.

The new government is being sworn in at Government House in Wellington this morning.

The National-Act-NZ First government has ministers from all three parties, and the role of deputy prime minister will be shared across the term. Winston Peters will take the first 18 month tenure.

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National’s Andrew Bayly was returned to parliament after scoring a landslide victory in Port Waikato on Saturday. He received 14,023 votes and won by 11,245, more than double his 2020 margin of 4,313. The byelection was called in early October following the sudden death of Act candidate Neil Christensen. He was not replaced, and neither Labour nor the Greens stood for the seat. The only other major party candidate, NZ First’s Casey Costello, received 2,778 votes.

Bayly’s victory means that National list candidate Nancy Lu, who is of Chinese descent, enters parliament as its 123rd MP. Stewart Sowman-Lund wrote on Friday that Lu’s election will “slightly offset criticism National has faced for the lack of diversity in its incoming caucus. While the party’s list was touted for its balance, many list-only candidates haven’t made it to parliament because of National’s over-performance in electorates. The party has no Pasifika MPs and the lowest proportion of Māori MPs of any political party.”

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The incoming prime minister has defended the decision to cut intended smokefree laws in order to help fund his government’s tax cuts.

It emerged over the weekend that with the removal of the proposed foreign buyers tax the additional cash would be found by, in part, removing rules intended to lower smoking rates.

The restrictions being unwound would have incrementally outlawed cigarettes for different age groups, starting with those born on or after January 1, 2009. They would have never been able to buy cigarettes and the smoking age would have risen each year.

But speaking to RNZ, Christopher Luxon said that law would have had “unintended consequences” including a “largely untaxed” black market, increased crime and issues around enforcement.

It wouldn’t make sense, said Luxon, for “that actually a 36-year-old can smoke, but a 35-year-old can’t”, he said.

“The good news is we’re going to continue reducing smoke rates… that has been happening over 30 years and that is going to continue to happen.”

Luxon placed some of the blame for removing the rules on his new coalition partners, saying Act and New Zealand First thought there were “practical issues”, though said National also disagreed with “components” of the law.

New Zealand First’s Shane Jones told Newstalk ZB that there had been a hysterical response to news the law would be repealed. ”Banning smoking would only enrich gangs through illicit cigarette sales,” the incoming minister said.

It’s not the only law that will be ditched quickly by the new government, as RNZ’s Anneke Smith looks at here. Also on the pre-Christmas scrap heap are the “three waters” reforms and the updated Resource Management Act.

The new government will be sworn in at a ceremony this morning. Luxon told TVNZ’s Breakfast it would be getting to work quickly. “We’ve got an awful lot of work to do between now and Christmas to get things sorted and to get things laid out for our 100-day plan,” he said. “But we are expecting that this government will have left us some financial surprises, no doubt about it, given their incompetence.”