Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that the general election will be held on September 19.

The announcement was made at the Beehive in Wellington, during at the first post-cabinet press conference of 2020, after Ardern advised the Governor-General.

The announcement comes ahead of the Government's $12 billion infrastructure announcement announced, to be held on Wednesday morning in Auckland.

The decision to nominate the election date early follows on from a precedent first set by John Key in 2011, 2014 and continued in 2017 under Bill English.

 

Traditionally, knowing when a election will be held is a significant advantage for a sitting Government as it can plan the year and raise campaign funds accordingly, while keeping the Opposition guessing.

Ardern said she thought announcing early was best practice and gave everyone time to prepare - including the Opposition and the Electoral Commission.

"I've always believed that announcing elections dates early is fair. It improves the opportunities for New Zealanders to take part in the democratic process and gives a greater degree of certainty to the political landscape," Ardern said.

Elections in New Zealand always take place on a Saturday. Every election since 2011 has been held in September.

"I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the Government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long term challenges facing New Zealand," Ardern said.

"When it comes to the campaign, I've set out Labour's plan to give New Zealanders an election contest that is positive, factual and robust.

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"Until then the Government will continue on getting things done."

The Government expects the House will rise on August 6, nominations will close on August 20, and early voting will start on September 7. The last day for the return of the "writ" - the official election results - will be October 15.

NATIONAL: BRING IT ON

National leader Simon Bridges said his party was ready to win the election and govern.

"National has done the work and we have the experience to deliver on our promises to get things done," Bridges said.

"We're going to be campaigning on more money in people's pockets as they struggle with the costs and burdens this Government has made worse, on transport and highways to actually get people where they need to go, and on safer families."

Bridges said the country would see a "flurry of announcements" from Ardern ahead of the election but not much actually being done.

He expected to run a campaign that was a mix of positive messaging about what National would do if elected and criticisms of the Government.

"I will give Kiwis certainty in election year," Bridges said of his decision.

"There's no doubt that we have a role to point out where the Government hasn't delivered where they say they would. People get that when it comes to KiwiBuild, light rail, and the end of poverty - which hasn't happened."

He said his Government would hit the ground running on the day after the election - not mentioning coalition talks.

When asked about coalition talks holding things up Bridges said his party was "shooting to win".

He has not yet made public whether or not he will rule out working with NZ First and its leader Winston Bridges, as John Key did in 2008.

On most polling National would not be able to govern without the help of NZ First, but two recent 1 News/Colmar Brunton polls had them able to govern with just ACT.

"I will give Kiwis certainty in election year," Bridges said of his decision.

Green Party co-leader James Shaw welcomed the news of the election date.

"Knowing the date of the election gives New Zealanders plenty of time to think about the future they want for their kids and grandkids," Shaw said.

"We have a track record of change that we're very proud of. We'll be asking New Zealanders to think about how much further and faster we could go with just a few more Greens in government."

ACT leader David Seymour said his party would campaign to give Kiwis more control over their lives.

The Electoral Commission announced that the results of the two referendums held at the general election - on euthanasia and personal cannabis use - would not be announced until October 2.