Patrick Gower: Winston's tax attack shows he thinks Labour is winning

"He is attacking Labour - but he is after National's votes."
"He is attacking Labour - but he is after National's votes." Photo credit: Getty

OPINION:

Winston Peters' attack on Jacinda Ardern's tax vagueness is one of the election's biggest power plays as it shows the kingmaker giving real credibility to a Labour-led Government.

It is actually more of an attack on National than on Labour.

I follow an old rule with Peters: if he is attacking one side, he is actually trying to get votes off the other.

So in this case he is attacking Labour - but he is after National's votes.

He is setting himself up as an "insurance policy" for voters worried about what a Labour-led Government will do with its mysterious tax working group.

He has seen Labour's biggest weak link and decided to fill the gap.

The message from Peters is: "vote for me and I will guard against Labour tax excesses".

But the true underlying message here is that Peters thinks Labour can win - and he has decided to get in on it.

Patrick Gower is Newshub's political editor.