A by-election was held in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Willoughby on 12 February 2022, caused by the resignation of Premier of New South Wales and Liberal MP Gladys Berejiklian.[1]
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Electoral district of Willoughby in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 54,988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 80.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 The Electoral district of Willoughby in Sydney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Willoughby by-election was held on the same day as by-elections for the districts of Bega, Monaro and Strathfield. The writs for election were issued on 21 January 2022. Nominations for candidates closed seven days later at noon on 27 January, with the ballot paper draw commencing in the morning of 28 January.[2]
The NSW Electoral Commission pre-emptively sent postal ballots to all voters registered on the state electoral roll for the relevant districts, under a regulation in a COVID amendment to the Electoral Act. Postal votes will be checked against in-person voting rolls to prevent double voting. The iVote online voting system was not used at these elections after the system failed during the NSW local government elections in December 2021.[3]
Candidates
edit| Candidates (in ballot paper order)[4] | |||||
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| Party | Candidate | Background | Notes | ||
| Sustainable Australia | William Bourke | Founder and president of Sustainable Australia. Councillor and deputy mayor of North Sydney Council. | [5] | ||
| Independent | Larissa Penn | Biotechnologist. Contested Willoughby at the 2019 state election. | [5] | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Samuel Gunning | Former North Sydney councillor. Contested North Shore at the 2019 state election, and the federal seat of Wentworth at the 2018 by-election. | [5] | ||
| Greens | Lynne Saville | Registered nurse and City of Willoughby councillor. Greens candidate for North Sydney at the 2022 federal election. | [5] | ||
| Liberal | Tim James | Executive general manager of the Menzies Research Centre. | [5] | ||
| Reason | Penny Hackett | Lawyer in private practice, funds management and investment banking and activist for voluntary assisted dying laws. | [5] | ||
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Tim James | 18,949 | 43.50 | −13.53 | |
| Independent | Larissa Penn | 12,920 | 29.66 | +19.75 | |
| Greens | Lynne Saville | 5,892 | 13.53 | +2.36 | |
| Reason | Penny Hackett | 2,576 | 5.91 | +5.91 | |
| Sustainable Australia | William Bourke | 2,122 | 4.87 | +3.24 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Samuel Gunning | 1,104 | 2.53 | +2.53 | |
| Total formal votes | 43,563 | 98.43 | +0.34 | ||
| Informal votes | 697 | 1.57 | −0.34 | ||
| Turnout | 44,260 | 80.49 | −9.02 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Tim James | 19,886 | 53.30 | −20.45 | |
| Independent | Larissa Penn | 17,421 | 46.70 | +20.45 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −20.45 | |||
The two-candidate swing from the 2019 general election is calculated from the NSW Electoral Commission Two Candidate Preferred (TCP) Analytical Tool for Berejiklian (LIB) vs Penn (IND).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Willoughby By-election". abc.net.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Willoughby State by-election". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ Green, Antony (10 February 2022). "Antony Green explains how living with COVID could affect elections, starting tomorrow". ABC News. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Nominated candidates for the 2022 Willoughby State by-election". NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Green, Antony. "Candidates". ABC Elections. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
- ^ "LA - Check Count First Preference District Summary - Willoughby". Willoughby State By-Election 22-MAY-2021. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "LA - Check Count TCP District Summary - Willoughby". Willoughby State By-Election 12-FEB-2022. New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2022.