WELLINGTON, Nov 9 — The leader of New Zealand’s ascendant centrist movement said today that voters worldwide were turning against populism after her party secured a record result in last week’s elections.

Qiulae Wong’s Opportunity Party could play a kingmaker role in New Zealand’s next government after a knife-edge vote in which neither of the country’s main parties won enough seats to govern alone.

Speaking outside parliament, she said her win represented a sea change after a decade of rising populism and extremism worldwide.

“I think we are seeing a push globally for more pragmatic politics,” she told journalists.