OPINION: The final results of the election can be summed up like this - it is now game on for a Labour-Greens Government.
It is the best possible result for Labour-Greens, and the worst for National.
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National's "moral authority" to form a Government has been eroded, and Labour-Greens have improved.
The maths are simple - you need 61 to govern.
National has 56 seats.
Labour and the Greens have 54.
New Zealand First holds the balance of power with nine seats.
So a National-NZ First combo would have 65 seats, and a Labour-Greens-NZ First combo would have 63.
It is pretty much neck and neck.
Look at the percentages.
National is on 44.4 percent.
Labour-Greens combined are on 43.2 percent.
There is nothing in it.
The fact is that Winston Peters was right to wait for the specials. The game has changed.
National remain in the "box-seat" as the biggest party and the biggest bloc, but Labour-Greens have gone up a notch.
Ahead of negotiations it can be summed up like this - it is all on.
Patrick Gower is Newshub's political editor.
