"Not a smart idea": John Key discourages strategic voting amid 'very tight' race

Former Prime Minister Sir John Key is repeating a call not to engage in strategic voting, saying it's "not a smart idea" to split the vote. 

He told Mike Hosking the centre-right political party, the biggest party in the parliament, needs to have a strong core.  

"If you eat away at that and you say, 'okay, well, I'll give my party vote somewhere else', then then you put Labour right in the box seat to be the first party that can form a government." 

Sir John released a video earlier this morning urging people to vote and told Hosking he wasn't worried, but it was a very tight race. 

"If people don't vote, you know, I would worry that they would wake up on November the 8th and have buyer's remorse," he said. 

Sir John suggested voters were lethargic as the campaign had lacked "drama" compared to some elections he had been involved in. 

"People just go, 'oh, I'm bored with all this, I just won't vote'. But the consequences of a change of government are very, very significant." 

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