Today voters are going to the polls in four local council by-elections in New South Wales.
Normally I wouldn’t cover council by-elections, but one of these races is quite significant. The City of Newcastle will be electing a new Lord Mayor after the resignation of conservative independent Jeff McCloy earlier this year after he was caught up in the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The City of Newcastle is the size of a federal electorate, and at the moment the council is split evenly between six progressives (4 Labor + 2 Greens) and six conservatives (including independents and Liberals), so a new Lord Mayor will likely make the difference in the balance of power, as well as being a significant figure in the direction of a major Australian city.
In addition, there are three council ward by-elections taking place in the Sydney region.
The Burraga West Ward of Marrickville Council (where I live) will be electing a new councillor after the death of the sitting Labor councillor.
In addition, the First and Second wards of Blue Mountains Council will be electing one new councillor each after two sitting councillors resigned in protest after a political fight on the council over staff wages.
The first ward of Blue Mountains covers Katoomba, Leura, Blackheath and Mount Victoria. The second ward covers Wentworth Falls, Lawson, Hazelbrook and other parts of the mid-mountains. Burraga West Ward covers most of Dulwich Hill and south-western parts of Marrickville.
I will be covering the results on election night, almost entirely focused on the City of Newcastle by-election. So I’ll see you at 6pm.
