How do parties form a government?

This Saturday, November 7, at 7pm, the polls will close. Once all the votes have been counted, we'll know which MPs are going to parliament. What we might not know, however, is who is in government – who will be given the power to pass new laws, run government agencies and decide how to spend your tax dollars.

That will be decided by the politicians themselves as the parties try to team up with each other to form a majority. As it says in the Cabinet Manual, the authoritative guide to central government, "The process of forming a government is political, and the decision to form a government must be arrived at by politicians."

Directed, filmed and edited by Isaiah Tour.
Written and presented by Robbie Nicol.
Made with the support of NZ On Air.