The Labour Party will not be driven to the left by October's election loss, leader Chris Hipkins says.
Hipkins said the election result came about because of the mood that "people were looking for a change" and it "wasn't necessarily a policy-driven vibe".
"I find that kind of idea that people vote on a left-right spectrum a bit frustrating because they don't," he told the Weekend Herald in an interview.
"People don't vote on a left-right continuum. They vote on the vibe of the campaign."
The comments from Hipkins come after Labour registered 26.91 percent of the vote in the general election.
Despite being ousted as Prime Minister, he was endorsed to remain Labour leader at a party caucus meeting last month.
In his interview with the NZ Herald, Hipkins revealed he "didn't take the election result personally".
"I think it was a reflection of the fact New Zealanders have had a tough time with COVID and cost of living and a whole lot of other things and were just looking for something different."
Hipkins, as Opposition leader, went head-to-head with his successor Christopher Luxon in the House for the first time on Thursday - with the former describing it as "the most shambolic beginning of any Government in New Zealand history".
