Election Night 2017: The Spinoff is at tonight’s National, Labour and Greens parties in central Auckland. Simon Wilson sets the scene.

Middlemore emergency specialist and Labour Party loyalist David Galler is standing at the front of the Labour room with Mike Mizrahi, the event impresario who is running the Labour show tonight. “Just a couple of Jews in the room,” Galler said. Both of them grinning away, talking about how amazing the Jacinda surge was and let’s not forget that, whatever happens.

That’s the Labour theme right now. Not scared shitless, just so super anxious.

At the National Party room they’re busy filling glass bowls with blue and white streamers, while the cops look for bombs. “Looking for Labour Party members, actually,” said one of them.

Labour has 80 media people registered and National 153, but Labour has two big boom cameras to sweep over the crowd and National has only one. Yes, there are balloons. Yes, the halls are bathed in the party colours.

Labour is at the Aotea Centre, in the big downstairs room. They’re sharing the building with NZ Opera: it’s the last night of Katya Kabanova, a wild tale of star-crossed love in which the heroine, a desperate woman who thought she would have everything and ends up with nothing, throws herself in the river and drowns.

National is at Sky City, as usual. The Greens are having their function in a church.

There are moments to go.

Simon Wilson will be posting updates from the National, Labour and Greens functions throughout the night.