All of the preliminary results are in and both the Invercargill and Southland electorates have delivered National MPs to parliament while the party vote has swung to Labour.

National's Penny Simmonds is the provisional winner for Invercargill but she said she was not taking that for granted and although "cautiously hopeful", was saving her celebrating until after the special votes have been counted.

The Invercargill resulted yo-yoed between Ms Simmonds and Labour's Liz Craig all night. The final count was 685 votes in Ms Simmonds' favour - Ms Simmonds securing 16,372 votes and Dr Craig 15,687 votes.

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She said her emotions were “up and down” all evening and the results were just “too close” to call it just yet.

“What a tough night it’s been” she said 

“It was very tight.”

“It’s been a tough night for National... and if I get there then I’m in amongst colleges where we’ve lost a lot of very good people, So it’s bittersweet yes”

“I thought we might have known quite a bit earlier than that.”

When asked if she expected the results to be so close she said she always knew Jacinda Ardern was on a roll but didn’t know how much of an impact that would have across the country - "but obviously it has”.

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“It’s been a bit of bittersweet victory, yes,” she said

She thanked her supporters for what had been a long four months of campaigning.

“I just want to acknowledge the amazing work you’ve all done carrying me along tonight.” 

“What a tough night it’s been” she said. “I said to Mayor Tim [Shadbolt] just earlier I don’t know you’ve done this for five decades.”

“I’m going to cut this cake, not as a celebration of results, but as a celebration of getting to the end.”

The crowd erupted into cheers as she thanked them all for their support. Former National MP Sarah Dowie was cheering her successor on very merrily from the crowd.

Dr Craig is also keen to see the outcome of the special votes.

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“It was a real nail biter,” she said of the night.

It had been a “really positive” campaign in invercargill and the closeness of votes, in a traditionally very blue area, was reflective of the positive work Labour had done in the region of late, she said.

“It’s really wonderful to see Labour having such a good mandate,” she said

Dr Craig said she had already called Ms Simmonds to congratulate her on having the margin on the night and would settle back now to watch the special votes come in.

She also said she was elated at what had been a fantastic night for Labour nationally.

She was now looking forward to spending the weekend relaxing with her son. 

In the Southland electorate, Joseph Mooney has retained the seat for National with a 5076-vote majority (17,817) over Labour's Jon Mitchell (12,741).

Mr Mooney said he was ready to get down to work.

“I’m pretty excited, And really excited to get to work now,” he said.

Southland MP-elect Joseph Mooney (right) with his National Party electorate chairman Mark Wilson. PHOTO: Supplied

The lawyer turned politician said he felt very calm on election night as the votes rolled in, taking the same approach as he takes to a jury trial - prepared and confident.

“I felt pretty relaxed, I worked hard so it was just up to the people to vote.”

He said he was looking forward to spending the weekend with his family before he begins his induction in parliament on Monday.

This is Mr Mooney's first term in politics. 

The country's massive support for Labour is well reflected in the southern party votes. In Southland Labour took 38.5% in the party vote, while National got 36.8%. In Invercargill Labour secured 47.5% and National 30.3%.

The Te Tai Tonga electorate has been retained by Labour's Rino Tirikatene, winning with a 5438 majority over the Maori Party's Takuta Ferris.

Nationally 97.2% of the vote has been counted and, on those numbers, it looks like Labour will have 64 seats in parliament, National will have 35, Act and the Greens 10 each and the Maori Party 1.

How it played out on the night...

INVERCARGILL ELECTORATE

SIMMONDS, Penny 16372 - National Party 10873

CRAIG, Liz 15687 - Labour Party 17050

FRANCIS, Rochelle Monique 900 - Green Party 1136

HONISS, Joshua 670 - New Conservative 793

GUNN, Joshua 636 - New Zealand First Party 1102

ROHLOFF, Kurt 352

WEST, Jackie 201 - ONE Party 137

AROHA, Winsome 178 - Social Credit 78

WALKER, Basil 165

HAYDEN, Zy 81

ACT New Zealand 3470

Advance NZ 337

The Opportunities Party (TOP) 353

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party 157

Māori Party 54

NZ Outdoors Party 36

Sustainable New Zealand Party 15

TEA Party 16

Vision New Zealand 8

HeartlandNZ 8

SOUTHLAND ELECTORATE

MOONEY, Joseph 17817 - National Party 12777

MITCHELL, Jon 12741 - Labour Party 13359

KENNEDY, David 1591 - Green Party 1696

ROWLANDS, Joel 699 - The Opportunities Party (TOP) 466

MEYER, Fiona 586 - New Conservative 528

WILSON, Robert Douglas 434

DACKER, Elisabeth 128 - Social Credit 39

TERRILL, Judith 119 - ONE Party 67

ACT New Zealand 4371

New Zealand First Party 714

Advance NZ 312

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party 103

Māori Party 39

NZ Outdoors Party 39

Sustainable New Zealand Party 19

HeartlandNZ 7

Vision New Zealand 6

TEA Party 3

TE TAI TONGA ELECTORATE (97.2% of results counted)

TIRIKATENE, Rino 10785 - Labour Party 12645

FERRIS, Tākuta 5305 - Māori Party 1759

PARETUTANGANUI-TAMATI, Ariana 2397 - Green Party 2524

McDONALD, Anituhia Rebel 1102 - Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party 333

THOMS, Matiu 633

TUHAKA, Raymond 451 - New Conservative 161

National Party 1194

New Zealand First Party 764

ACT New Zealand 600

Advance NZ 406

The Opportunities Party (TOP) 389

Vision New Zealand 82

ONE Party 65

HeartlandNZ 36

NZ Outdoors Party 36

Social Credit 8

Sustainable New Zealand Party 8

TEA Party 5