If Peter Dunne's vote is the one that decides the next Government, say hello to another three years of National.
In a fiery condemnation of Andrew Little's Labour, Mr Dunne has branded the party "unelectable" and said any Government they're a part of, even with United Future on side, would be "disastrous".
"It would be a shambles of a Government, given its likely composition, and I don't think it would be in New Zealand's interests to allow it to happen," Mr Dunne told The AM Show on Thursday.
"This is not the Cullen-Clark Government that I worked with. This is not the Labour Party that I worked with.
"I've worked with Labour Governments for about 12 years. I've worked with National Governments for about 12 years. This current Labour Party is simply unelectable. It doesn't have the capability, it doesn't have the policy and it doesn't have the leadership."
On current polling, Labour would need bitter rivals the Greens and New Zealand First to form a Government - and perhaps even Mr Dunne, provided he wins the knife-edge Ōhāriu seat.
Asked directly if he could rule out backing a Labour-led Government, Mr Dunne said he didn't have to.
"If I say they are unelectable, they would be a disastrous Government, they've got no leadership, they've got no policy, you expect me to support them? If you want me to say the words 'I rule it out', I will, but it's pretty clear from what I said that's not necessary. It's pretty obvious, I would have thought."
Mr Dunne began his parliamentary career with Labour in the 1980s. He left the party in 1994, and as leader of United Future backed Labour under Helen Clark in 2005. When the John Key-led National came to power in 2008, Mr Dunne backed the new Government, and has continued that support under Prime Minister Bill English.
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