Labour leader Andrew Little has unveiled plans to challenge the way the Labour Party has traditionally related to working people. He wants the party to connect better with all types of workers, including the self employed and those on individual contracts, and give greater attention to the changing nature of work.

Amanda Banks has emerged as an extremely good wife to John Banks with her "obsessive" detective work turning up crucial evidence which led to the former Act Leader's electoral fraud conviction being overturned today. Mr Banks was today celebrating after the Court of Appeal overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial. He was convicted in the High Court earlier this year after failing to disclose donations from Kim Dotcom to his Auckland Mayoralty campaign in 2010. Mr Banks appealed, introducing affidavits from two US-based businessmen who he says were at the same lunch at which Mr Dotcom claimed donations were discussed. The pair - David Schaeffer and Jeffery Karnes - both said donations were not discussed at that lunch.

Prime Minister John Key should accept it’s ``game over’’ and acknowledge his office’s dirty tricks operation rather than continuing his string of recent lies about it, Labour Leader Andrew Little says. Mr Little this afternoon said Mr Key ``lied to the Gallery (reporters) on Tuesday… he lied in the House, he then corrected his lie in the House, he lied about the correction about the lie, this just goes on and on’’. ``The guy cannot tell a straight story.

Prime Minister John Key says he has "absolutely not" lied about his contact with right wing blogger Cameron Slater. This week Mr Key twice said he had not been in contact with Slater ahead of the release of Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Cheryl Gwyn's report into the SIS's role in Slater's 2011 political attack on former Labour Leader Phil Goff. However, he was yesterday forced to correct his answer to a question from Labour MP Megan Woods where he said he'd had no contact with Slater about the report ahead of its release. On Tuesday, Mr Key also told reporters he had had no recent contact with Slater.

Labour's new leader Andrew Little has chosen Annette King as his deputy, as his lineup was revealed this morning. Mr Little revealed his former leadership rival, Grant Robertson, would be the party's Finance spokesperson and number three in the rankings.

Andrew Little, who emerged the winner after a tight battle that went into a third round of voting, said it was an "immense privilege" to have been chosen.

Prime Minister John Key has announced that a government inquiry will be launched on the Phillip Smith incident. The inquiry will be the responsibility of State Services Minister Paula Bennett.

Watch Prime Minister John Key address to Parliament outlining his proposed plans for New Zealand defense and involvement.

Prime Minister John Key comments on the risk of fireworks for the public and the possibility of a fireworks ban in the future.

Prime Minister John Key says there are ongoing discussions with other political leaders regarding New Zealand's commitment in the war against Isis and a final decision is to be expected in three or four weeks.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully told the Herald from New York after the vote that he had "an enormous sense of relief." "We've invested a lot of time and energy in presenting our credentials to the member states and to win on a first ballot against two of the big heavyweights is tremendous feeling."

Prime Minister John Key said he was not aware that US President Barack Obama had planned to address military chiefs from various countries - including New Zealand - at Andrews Air Force Base to near Washington DC about defeating Islamic State. Mr Key said he had been assured by the Defence Force it was just a "regular meeting" although virtually every news outlet in Washington is billing it as a meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition.

The SIS, the country's domestic spying agency, looks set to gain greater powers in a quickfire overhaul of terrorism laws despite the PM's assertion there's a "low risk" to NZ.

Mr Key said Cabinet had today approved terms of reference for a review of settings in relation to ''foreign terrorist fighters''.

David Cunliffe has announced he is withdrawing from the Labour Party leadership contest. Speaking at his electorate office in West Auckland, Mr Cunliffe said it had been a hard decision but within the wider interests of the party, and he was backing Andrew Little for the leadership.

Labour leadership hopeful Andrew Little would be the first List MP to lead the Labour Party if he is successful in his bid as leader, but says that is not necessarily damaging to his chances.

Labour is likely to head into its leadership contest within 6-8 weeks rather than wait for a review of the party's performance to report back in December-- and after an initial flurry of snipes, new interim leader David Parker said he expected it to be "seemly". Labour's caucus met this morning and its former leader David Cunliffe resigned while David Parker was elevated from deputy leader to acting leader with Annette King as his deputy.

Mr Cunliffe will formally resign in the caucus meeting, triggering the process for a new leadership contest which both he and Grant Robertson have confirmed they will contest. Mr Parker is expected to take over as acting leader until that contest is held and has ruled out running for the leadership himself.

Labour MPs David Cunliffe and Grant Robertson are chasing the toughest job in NZ politics - lifting Labour out of the political wilderness.

Labour leader David Cunliffe called again for an early leadership contest and pledged to get behind whoever wins if he loses. His comments this morning in advance of Labour's first caucus meeting of the new term follow calls from other MPs for a leadership contest to be delayed until the party has time to digest its loss and the reasons for it. Flanked by his deputy David Parker, Mr Cunliffe said the party's ruling Council would launch an immediate review of the election today, but Labour had to get on with rebuilding as soon as possible.

Prime Minister John Key expects to run a centrist Government for the next term with the support of Act, United Future and the Maori Party, with possible ministerial posts for those parties. Mr Key said he expected Parliament to resume and the new Government to be sworn on October 20, but it would depend on a few factors, including how the special votes fell. He hoped National would keep its 61 seats.

Reaction from National's Nicky Wagner and Gerry Brownlee in Christchurch, and the Labour parties Tony Milne and Ruth Dyson.

Labour leader David Cunliffe says opposition parties were denied crucial airtime during the election campaign which saw them losing votes across the board. Mr Cunliffe insisted the loss at the ballot box was "the same proportionate decline" that was seen in results polled by the Green Party and across the left, adding: "It's not specific to the Labour party."

Forget dirty politics, high-profile scalps and accusations of lies and spies - John Key swept all aside last night to win an historic third term as Prime Minister. And his margin of victory was shaping last night to be larger than in 2011 - the first time that has been achieved in almost 90 years and giving National the holy grail of governing alone.

Labour leader David Cunliffe says he will not stand down despite a heavy defeat in election 2014. Labour's share of the vote dropped by around three percent to 24.68 percent of the party vote - one of its worst results in modern history - while National rose in the polls to win its third term in office.Speaking to supporters in Auckland he confirmed that he had conceded to Prime Minister John Key but indicated that he expected to stay on as Leader of the Opposition.

NZ First Leader Winston Peters has hit out at National's economic management, Labour's infighting and Colin Craig's Conservatives in his election night address to supporters. Arriving at NZ First's election night function with his party netting 9 per cent of the vote, a result that will bring in new MPs Fletcher Tabuteau, Clayton Mitchell, Darroch Ball, Ron Mark and probably Mahesh Bindra, Mr Peters thanked his supporters for running a strong campaign despite limited resources. "You can't give someone a microlight and expect them to go to the moon."

Three more years they chanted at the National Party headquarters as the scale of their resounding victory in Election 2014 became clear. Winning a third term in office. John Key and the National Party increased their share of the party vote winning 48 percent of all the votes cast, while Labour and the Greens saw their share of the vote tumble from 2011.

Green Party co-leaders Russel Norman and Metiria Turei were in a defiant mood despite polling about a third less votes than they had hoped for. The duo met with thunderous applause when they arrived at the party election night HQ in Auckland just after 10pm. The Greens had targeted polling 15 per cent, but fell well short.

The Green Party closed its 2014 Election campaign with an concert built around the theme, Love New Zealand.

National Party leader John Key talks to Newstalk ZB's Leighton Smith about whether there are any international spy agencies in NZ, the alleged Warner Brothers email, and Kim Dotcom.