Does ruling out Opportunity only harm Luxon's election chances?

Despite not having made it to parliament, the Opportunity Party has already been proclaimed a potential “kingmaker” following next month’s election. <b>By Grant Duncan for The Conversation</b> That would see the newcomer party decide who governs if it ends up <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/10/13/poll-hipkins-and-luxon-now-neck-and-neck-opportunity-on-track-for-10-mps/">holding the balance of power</a> – just as New Zealand First’s Winston Peters did, or appeared to do, in 2017. Back then, it was genuinely hard to know whether Peters would lean left or right, until he announced he would go into a coalition with Dame Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party to form a government. But has Opportunity already made up its mind which party it wants to support in government? Does it even have a choice? National Party leader and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has repeatedly ruled out working with Opportunity in forming his next government, assuming he gets another chance.