NSW councils – call of the board

This blog post includes a summary of the state of the race for the 27 councils with a population of 95,000 or more. The first few were also posted in the live blog overnight but for convenience I’ve included them here again.

I have a few summary thoughts first:

• The Libertarians have won a lot of seats in places without Liberals. By my count, in these big 27 councils they’ve gained 7-8 seats, all of them in places without Liberals: Camden, Canterbury-Bankstown, Penrith and Mid-Coast. Indeed they are the largest party on Mid-Coast with 3 out of 11.
• The Greens haven’t done great in the centre of Sydney, losing a seat on Randwick, making little or no progress in Inner West and apparently losing ground in Waverley and Woollahra, but they’ve done much better in the suburbs. They currently look likely to win their first ever seats in Blacktown and Cumberland, a second in Parramatta, winning two in Campbelltown for the first time, returning to Ryde council, increasing numbers in Newcastle and reaching a record high in Bayside, Northern Beaches and Wollongong. The Greens had very bad news in Shoalhaven where they badly lost the mayoralty and may have been wiped out entirely.
• Generally there isn’t much good news for the Liberals. They have gained a majority in Ryde, but that’s about it. Apart from the issues caused by nominations, the Liberals also likely have lost a majority in Sutherland and are no longer the main opposition in the City of Sydney.
• Labor has had some good results, gaining a majority in Penrith and Wollongong and will likely be in a position to return to power in Campbelltown despite a small swing against.
• But Labor has lost their majority on Canterbury-Bankstown and Cumberland.
• Local parties like Community Champions and Peaceful Bayside polled a substantial vote but were victims of the 3-member ward system making it harder to win seats. Still, they have helped produce councils with clear progressive majorities. And in Georges River, the GRRRP may end up as the largest party.

Bayside

Peaceful Bayside were a new contender here, and the Liberal Party returned after not running in 2021. Peaceful Bayside leader Heidi Lee Douglas has polled a full quota, but her party has otherwise not done well enough to win seats.

It looks like Labor has retained 6 seats, losing one in Ward 2 to the Greens. The Liberal Party has won five seats – one in each ward – but no prospect of any other seats.

The Greens look likely to win a second seat in Ward 2 off Labor.

Greens councillor Greta Werner looks likely to retain her seat in Ward 3, narrowly defeating Peaceful Bayside and conservative independent councillor Andrew Tsounis.

In Ward 4, long-standing independent councillor Liz Barlow is leading, but the Greens and Peaceful Bayside are not far behind and I think one of them will likely chase down Barlow with the other’s preferences (plus a Labor surplus). The Greens are leading.

In Ward 5, Labor, Liberal and Peaceful Bayside easily win.

This produces a result of 6 Labor, 5 Liberal, 2-3 Greens, 1-2 Peaceful Bayside. This is a slight reduction for Labor and an increase of 2 seats for the progressive crossbench. The other independents were crunched between those new progressive crossbenchers and the return of the Liberal Party and have been wiped out.

Blacktown

The return of the Liberal Party to Blacktown sees Labor lose two seats, but they look likely to win a majority.

The Greens have done remarkably well, polling 16-18% across their three wards. Animal Justice also polled 17% in Ward 3.

The Greens look likely on current numbers to scrape into the third seat in Ward 2, with the second Liberal and second Labor candidate narrowly behind, but that could change.

The Greens have also done well in Ward 1, and if all of the Labor surplus flowed to them they would win, but I suspect enough would leak to elect a second Liberal.

Overall the council at the moment is headed towards eight Labor, six Liberal and one Greens. That would be a net loss of two Labor seats, but would also see two non-Liberal independents wiped out.

Camden

The Liberal nomination failure has drastically changed the shape of the council.

The Central Ward looks very boring, with Labor, Liberal and independent Peter McLean each retaining one seat.

In the North Ward, most of the Liberal vote seems to have moved to the Libertarian Party, who are currently on 1.85 quotas. Labor should retain their one seat despite not having an above-the-line box. The third seat has gone to new independent Abha Suri.

In the South Ward, the Libertarians have again gained a seat in the absence of the Liberals, and Labor has retained one seat. The third seat is a contest between two progressive independents: long-standing independent Eva Campbell, and former mayor Cindy Cagney, who had been a Labor councillor until the election. Campbell is narrowly leading.

This produces an overall result of 3 Labor, 2 Libertarian, 1 Liberal and 3 independents.

Campbelltown

The Liberal Party won four seats here last time, and their absence is keenly felt.

The Labor vote appears to have gone backwards by about 3%, and that may be enough for them to drop from seven to six seats, although it’s worth bearing in mind that the party has only held five seats for most of this term after the former mayor and an ally quit the party in early 2022.

Apart from Labor, you also have:

• Community First Totally Independent – look set to gain a third seat after two sitting independents merged their parties.
• Greens – after narrowly losing their sole seat in 2021, they are on about 12% and would win two seats. The party has previously won a sole seat in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2016, but has never come close to winning two.
• Community Voice – Masud Khalil’s party looks likely to win two seats.
• Sustainable Australia – has won one seat, probably missing out on a second by relatively few votes.
• Adam Zahra – an independent who previously ran for One Nation, he has won about one quota.

That produces a council with six Labor, three for CFTI, two each for CVA and the Greens, and one each for Sustainable Australia and right-wing independent Zahra.

Canterbury-Bankstown

The ALP has also gone backwards in Canterbury-Bankstown even though the Liberal Party failing to nominate in two wards and failing to nominate a full ticket in a third.

In Bass Hill, it looks like the Libertarian Party have gained the Liberal Party’s seat.

In Canterbury, independent councillor Barbara Coorey and the Greens may have enough votes to each win one seat, with Labor also retaining their one seat.

In Roselands, Liberal candidates made it on the ballot below the line, but have barely cleared 0.3 quotas. Labor and Our Local Community (running former Randwick councillor Harry Stavrinos) are leading, but after that it’s hard to pick. The second Labor candidate and the Greens are both on just under half a quota. The Libertarian Party and the below-the-line Liberal candidate are also on about a third of a quota. If Labor win this seat, they’ll retain their majority.

Overall this produces a council of 7 Labor, 3 Liberals, one each for Libertarian, Our Local Community, Greens and independent, plus the hard-to-call seat in Roselands.

Central Coast

There are a number of uncertain seats. The ALP has won five seats, one in each ward. The Liberal Party has also won seats in the four wards they have run in. Former Gosford mayor Lawrie McKinna has won at least two seats for his independent ticket.

There are another four seats not clear.

In Budgewoi, where the Liberal Party didn’t run, there are three tickets in a close contest for the last two seats: the Greens, independent Liberal Doug Eaton, and the McKinna independent.

In Gosford West, three independents are in a close race for the third seat, including the McKinna independent.

In The Entrance, the second Liberal and Animal Justice are in a close race.

So the final result looks like 5 Labor, 4-5 Liberal, 2-4 McKinna independents, and potentially a seat for Eaton, another independent, the Greens or Animal Justice.

The referendum on cutting the size of the council from 15 to 9 is also worth watching. With most booths yet to report, Yes is narrowly ahead, with 51.6%.

Cumberland

It looks like Labor has lost their majority, and possibly there will be a clear conservative majority.

The conservative independents who benefited from the Liberal absence in 2021 have retained their seats with little impact, while Our Local Community was wiped out in Parramatta.

Labor has retained a seat in each ward, but often with big swings. There was a swing of over 20% against Labor in Regents Park, where both Labor councillors were deselected. And in South Granville the ALP’s vote collapsed from 65% to 21% in a much enlarged field.

The Liberal Party has won three seats, with a chance for a fourth.

The three incumbent OLC councillors have been re-elected, along with Eddy Sarkis, an independent who was an OLC member in 2021. New independent Ahmed Ouf has polled strongly in South Granville, but former mayor Greg Cummings lost his seat.

The Greens look like they have won their first seat in Cumberland in the Wentworthville ward.

The only seat I have listed as undecided is the final seat in Regents Park, between the first Liberal and second Labor.

That adds up to a total of 5-6 Labor, 3-4 Liberal, 3 OLC, 2 independents and 1 Greens. If the Liberal Party win a seat in Regents Park, that’s a clear Liberal-OLC-Sarkis conservative majority.

Fairfield

Frank Carbone already held his mayoral seat by a huge margin, winning 73% in 2021, but he’s currently on 79%. So even safer.

On council votes counted so far, it looks like the Carbone ticket will retain the six council seats they won in 2021, and the Dai Le party will retain then three seats they won, giving them ten including Carbone as mayor.

Labor looks set to only win one seat in each ward, losing their second seat in Fairfield/Cabravale to Kate Hoang, an independent not aligned with Carbone and Le.

Georges River

The Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party broke onto the landscape in 2021 by winning four out of fifteen seats on the council, alongside five each for Labor and Liberal.

In three wards unaffected by Liberal nomination problems, the result was the status quo. In Blakehurst and Kogarah Bay, the three parties split the seats, although GRRRP leader Elise Borg went backwards in Kogarah Bay. The GRRRP gained ground in Hurstville, but incumbent independent councillor Ben Wang seems likely to hold on with Labor preferences.

In the other two wards, the absence of a Liberal ticket boosted both the vote for both Labor and GRRRP. In Mortdale, Labor is leading and likely to win a second seat. In Peakhurst, GRRRP has won two clear seats.

This produces a result of 5-6 Labor, 5-6 GRRRP, 3 Liberal and 1 independent. If Labor wins Mortdale, as seems likely, it will give them the largest number of seats, but regardless of the result the Liberal Party has a choice of working with either of the two larger parties for a majority.

Hornsby

The rebel Liberal push for Nathan Tilbury for mayor as an independent has faltered. Official Liberal candidate Warren Waddell has 40% of the mayoral primary vote, with Tilbury and his Labor and Greens rivals all sitting on 18-20% of the vote. No preferences will flow strongly enough to close that gap.

In Ward A, Waddell is sitting on 1.67 quotas in his below the line position. But he will be disqualified after he wins the mayoralty. Even if all these votes flow to his running mate, there is no third Liberal to benefit from that half quota. So there is no doubt that the other two seats will go to the Greens and ex-Liberal independent Nathan Tilbury.

In Ward B, Labor and Liberal have each polled a quota and the Greens are likely to win against the second Liberal.

In Ward C, the Liberal vote is clear of two quotas, but there is a very close race between Labor and Greens for the third seat.

This produces a total of 5 Liberals (including the mayor), 2-3 Greens, 1-2 Labor and one independent.

If the Greens manage to beat Labor in Ward C, this would produce no change except Nathan Tilbury retaining as an independent the seat he previously held as a Liberal. The Liberal team would be able to govern with the mayor’s casting vote, or have a solid majority if they could reconcile with Tilbury.

Inner West

Labor looks set to maintain their majority, but with a different set of seats.

Labor increased their numbers from five to eight in 2021 when, with the aid of the Liberal Party not officially endorsing candidates, they managed to defeat the three incumbent conservatives who had once allied with them to lock out the Greens.

One of those three Liberals, in the Leichhardt ward, looks set to come back and regain her seat at the expense of Labor’s second seat. But in the other two wards, Ashfield and Marrickville, Greens preferences likely will save Labor’s second seat and defeat the conservative – the Liberal Party in Ashfield and independent former councillor Vic Macri in Marrickville.

While the loss in Leichhardt would have deprived Labor of a majority, they regain it thanks to a big swing towards them in the Balmain ward, thus defeating independent candidate John Stamolis.

There is one other seat in play – the Greens are narrowly ahead of Labor for the third seat in the Stanmore ward, with Liberal preferences left to influence the outcome. The Liberal Party did not recommend preferences. At the moment the Greens are in the lead but it’s tight.

So that results in a council of 8-9 Labor, 5-6 Greens and 1 Liberal.

Ku-ring-gai

Parties don’t play a significant role in Ku-ring-gai.

Seven of the incumbent councillors look set to be re-elected.

Greg Taylor in Comenarra looks set to miss out, significantly trailing fellow councillor Jeff Pettett and new contender Matt Devlin.

Simon Lennon is behind in Gordon, trailing teal-tinged Indu Balachandran.

And in Roseville, sitting mayor Sam Ngai is polling strong enough to also elect his running mate Kathryn Johnson, which would leave Alec Taylor seatless.

Both incumbents look set to be re-elected in St Ives and Wahroonga.

Lake Macquarie

There has been a big swing against Labor on primary votes for mayor – from 53% to 35.8%. This is partly explained by the entry of the Greens, who have polled 10%, but OLC and Lake Mac Independents have also taken some votes. I think Labor’s Adam Shultz should still win the mayoralty, but his margin will be reduced.

The status quo has been maintained in the East and North wards with 2 Labor, 1 Liberal and 1 Lake Mac Independent in each ward. The Greens have come back, but are not polling enough to win. They polled almost three quarters of a quota in the North Ward, but the other parties all fill their quotas more fully.

In the West Ward, the Greens are on 0.4 quotas and Labor is just over 1.4 quotas, so there’s a chance the Greens could end up winning the second Labor seat there. There’s also a small chance someone else could win that seat since there’s no clear leaders.

If Labor or Greens win that last seat in the West Ward, that’ll produce a clear but small progressive majority of 7, with 3 Liberals and 3 conservative Lake Mac Independents.

Liverpool

Ned Mannoun’s primary vote has increased from 38.4% to 43.8%, although lots of booths are yet to report so it’s possible that sample isn’t quite right. The Labor vote is down from 38.1% to 26.2%, with 8.3% for Peter Ristevski of Our Local Community. I think Mannoun has probably been re-elected, but a lot of votes are yet to be counted.

The count is very early for the council – at the moment the Liberals look good but the sample may be biased. Unfortunately the private election provider is taking a lot longer than the NSWEC.

Mid-Coast

The Libertarian Party is doing very well here in the absence of the Liberal Party. They are currently on almost 25% of the vote, which is about three quotas. This is actually quite a bit more than what the Liberals polled in 2021, when you polled 13% and won two seats.

Labor has also increased their support from 10% in 2021 to 15%, which will likely be enough to win a second seat. So perhaps this reflects the council shifting towards party-label politics, but with the Liberal absence helping the Libertarians. In general it seems like there is also a concentration of support behind fewer independent tickets than in 2021, when

Alan Tickle’s independent ticket has polled two full quotas, which is a 5% swing from 2021.

Peter Howard, Jeremy Miller and the Greens are each on track to win one seat. Peter Howard was elected as the second candidate on Peter Epov’s ticket in 2021, so that’s actually a loss for that group.

That adds up to ten seats. The eleventh seat at the moment seems like a race between sitting councillor Paul Sandilands and Thomas O’Keefe.

Newcastle

Incumbent lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes has had a big chunk of her primary vote taken out, dropping from 40.8% to 32.2%. Her former Labor preselection rival Ross Kerridge is narrowly leading with 33%. This is the kind of race where it would be great to have a 2CP count.

The Greens’ Charlotte McCabe is third on 16.7%, which is about steady with 2021, and the Liberals are on 12.2%, down from 18%. Both Liberal and Greens issued a how-to-vote with no preference recommendations.

I’ve been struggling to put my finger on Kerridge’s political positioning, but he seems to be a mix of Labor rebels and community independents types. He may well do better on Liberal and Greens preferences, and could well win.

Ross Kerridge’s “Our Newcastle” team has also been quite strong at the council level.

In Ward 1, Labor, Greens and Kerridge look set to all win a seat – Kerridge would be replacing retiring independent John Church.

In Ward 2, it looks like Labor, Greens and Liberal will retain their seats, although Kerridge’s candidate Leisha Parkinson could challenge Greens or Liberal if her vote picks up on late counting.

In Ward 3, ex-Liberal independent Katrina Wark has polled poorly, and her seat will go to Our Newcastle’s Mark Brooker, along with Labor and the Greens. That would mean the Greens gaining a seat from Labor.

In Ward 4, Labor and Liberal have won, and Labor’s second candidate is currently leading, but the Greens and Our Newcastle are not too far behind.

That adds up to a council total of 5 Labor, 3 Greens, 2 Liberal and 2 Our Newcastle, with the mayoralty either going to Labor or Our Newcastle.

So it looks like Labor has lost their majority, and potentially the mayoralty. But they will remain the biggest party on the council as long as they win two in Ward 4. If they lose that seat and the mayoralty to Our Newcastle they would be tied 4-4.

Northern Beaches

There are some very odd results here as an artefact of the Liberal Party being AWOL.

In Curl Curl, it’s a clear split of 2 seats for Your Northern Beaches (YNB) and one for the Greens.

In Frenchs Forest, right now the Greens are just over a quota and YNB is just under 3 quotas. There’s no-one else in the race, so I suspect someone will lose with almost a full quota. If YNB can pass 75%, they’ll win all three seats.

Good For Manly and YNB have each retained their single seat in Manly, with the Greens leading for the seat vacated by the Liberals, but the second YNB is not out of the race. GFM has a surplus and Labor has almost half a quota which will be crucial for preferences. GFM preferences favour YNB and Labor favours the Greens on their how-to-votes.

In Narrabeen, conservative voters have flocked to independent Vincent De Luca, who has won two seats.

In Pittwater, Liberal voters have flocked to independent Liberal Mandeep Singh, who has managed 1.6 quotas below the line.

This produces a total of 7-9 Your Northern Beaches, 2-4 Greens, along with Candy Bingham, Mandeep Singh, and Vincent De Luca and his running mate. If YNB can beat the Greens in either Frenchs Forest or Manly, they will win a majority.

Parramatta

The current progressive majority of Labor, Greens and independent has been maintained, but the right wing of the council has been almost entirely overturned.

Labor has retained one seat in every ward, and at the moment look like they have regained the second seat they won in Rosehill in 2021 but lost recently when Paul Noack quit the party in an unsuccessful attempt to run as an independent.

The Greens look like they’ve retained their one seat, and are leading for a second seat in Epping, which was a seventh Labor seat in 2021. Thus the Greens have taken a seat from Labor.

Kellie Darley’s Community Champions gained a substantial share in four wards but right now it looks like only Darley has been re-elected in Dundas. There’s an outside chance that CC candidates in Epping or Rosehill could catch up on the Greens or Labor candidates currently leading for the third seats in those wards. This would change the make-up of the progressive majority but wouldn’t change the fact that the left hold nine seats.

On the right, all four Our Local Community members have been defeated, and longstanding independent Lorraine Wearne has been unsuccessful in transferring her support to another independent.

Liberal independent Georgina Valjak has won two seats as an official Liberal in North Rocks, and her Liberal colleagues have won one seat in every other ward, giving them the same six seats they won in 2017. But now they don’t have any allies on the council, unlike in 2017 when they had Andrew Wilson and Michelle Garrard.

Penrith

We already knew that Labor had won five seats in the East Ward, and were thus almost certain to win a majority. They have won that majority, but it doesn’t look like they’e done much better in the other two wards than in the past.

In the North Ward, Labor and Liberal have each won two seats. Ex-Liberal independent Glenn Gardiner is narrowly leading the Greens for the fifth seat, but the Liberal surplus and the vote of another independent should elect Gardiner.

In the South Ward, there are just three groups, and they are all close to two quotas. Labor is currently just over two quotas, with the Libertarian Party and Sue Day’s ticket just short of two quotas. If the vote stayed as is, Labor’s small surplus would decide if the fifth seat goes to the second Libertarian or Sue Day’s running mate, but it’s possible one of those parties will pick up ground and Labor could miss out on two.

So that means Labor has won at least eight seats, alongside two Liberals, at least two independents and one Libertarian, with the last two seats in South Ward too close to call.

Randwick

Randwick is mostly a status quo result. The current council consists of 5 Labor, 5 Liberal, 4 Greens and 1 independent. The only change is that it appears that the second Labor candidate in the Central Ward will narrowly defeat Greens councillor Kym Chapple, giving Labor six seats and the Greens three.

I believe Chapple’s victory in Central Ward in 2021 is the only time the Greens have ever won that seat, so it’s not a shock. It doesn’t change the majority on the council but strengthens Labor’s relative position.

Ryde

The Liberal Party looks set to win the first direct mayoral election in the City of Ryde. Liberal mayor Trenton Brown is on 39.9%, with Labor on 24.6%, independent Roy Maggio on 22.6% and the Greens on 12.9%. Maggio’s preferences won’t favour Labor.

The Liberal Party look set to win two seats in each ward, with Labor on one seat.

Independent councillor Roy Maggio has been re-elected in the East Ward.

In the Central Ward, the Greens are leading and I suspect will win with Labor preferences.

In the West Ward, independent Karen Alden is narrowly leading the second Labor candidate and the third Liberal candidate.

Overall this produces a result of 7 Liberals, 3 Labor, 1 Green and 2 independents, which is a solid majority for the Liberal Party. This is the first Liberal majority since the party began running in Ryde in 2008, and I don’t believe they have any history of running before that.

Shoalhaven

The retirement of Amanda Findley has brought the era of the Greens mayoralty to an end in Shoalhaven.

Greens mayoral candidate Kaye Gartiner is on 19%, coming a distant third to two conservative rivals. It seems likely that Patricia White of the Shoalhaven Independents Group will win, from her 44.6% primary vote, defeating Jemma Tribe on 36.2%.

The Greens vote for council has also collapsed, dropping from 25-28% in 2021 to 13-15% in 2024. That could be enough to win a seat if their opponents split their votes in a helpful way but that doesn’t appear to have happened.

In Ward 1, SIG is on two full quotas, and Labor and Team Tribe are both on a full quota, so the Greens are left out. This would be a gain of one for SIG from the Greens and Team Tribe replacing the Liberal independent who failed to nominate as an official Liberal.

In Ward 2, SIG has two full quotas, as does Team Tribe. Labor has a narrow lead on the Greens, so only one of them will win. The Greens could recover and win here, but either way there’s one lost progressive seat to SIG and Team Tribe, with another Liberal member also absent.

In Ward 3, SIG have retained their two seats, and Labor has a full quota. The Greens have a lead over Team Tribe for the final seat, 0.75 to 0.63, but SIG has a lot more preferences to distribute, so I think it’s quite possible they’ll be chased down.

So this produces a result of 7 members for Shoalhaven Independents Group, 2-3 Team Tribe, 2-3 Labor, 0-2 Greens. A clear majority not just for the right but for the one local party that was dominant in the council prior to the entry of Joanna Gash in 2012.

Sutherland

It appears that the Liberal Party has lost their majority here.

In A Ward, the Liberal Party had previously won two seats along with one independent. That independent, Leanne Farmer, appears to have lost to a different independent, Kal Glanznig. The ex-Liberal deputy mayor Carol Provan has been unsuccessful in retaining her seat. Labor has also regained a seat after being locked out here in 2021.

In B Ward, the seats have split 2 Liberal 1 Labor as in 2021.

In C Ward, Liberal and Labor have each gained one seat. Current ex-Liberal mayor Carmelo Pesce is narrowly behind the second Liberal for the final seat, but he benefits from Labor’s surplus. This is a hard race to call – I think Pesce is in front but the Liberal Party could win.

In D Ward, the seats have split 2 Labor 1 Liberal as in 2021.

In E Ward, Labor and Liberal have each won one seat, with incumbent independent Laura Cowell behind the second Liberal, but likely to benefit from Labor preferences. I think Cowell is in front.

So this produces a result of 6-8 Liberals, 6 Labor, and 1-3 independents. If Pesce or Cowell can hold on, the Liberals will lose their majority.

Sydney

I’m pleased that my predictions have come true – Clover Moore re-elected as mayor despite a drop in her vote, and her party losing a seat on council.

Moore’s primary vote for mayor is on 36.8%, down from 43% in 2021 and 58% in 2016. Labor’s Zann Maxwell is second on 17%, followed by the Greens’ Sylvie Ellsmore on 13%, Liberal Lyndon Gannon on 11% and Yvonne Weldon on 10.8%.

With such divided opposition, I expect her to still easily win the preference count, but probably not by as much as in 2021.

Moore’s council vote has dropped from 40% to 32%, which is just 3.2 quotas.

Labor has won two seats (up one), and Yvonne Weldon has retained her seat. It looks like the Greens will win a second seat, and the Liberal Party will lose their second seat.

In the past five terms, Clover Moore’s team has always won four or five seats in addition to her mayoral seat. But this time they’ll only win three, leaving them with less than a majority even with her casting vote. Labor and Greens will be the other major blocs with two seats each.

The Hills

Liberal mayoral candidate Michelle Byrne has polled 61.7% of the primary vote, which is almost exactly what she polled in 2016 when she won the first mayoral vote. The Liberal vote dropped to 53% in 2021, when Byrne was replaced by Peter Gangemi, but has bounced back now.

At the moment all four wards are splitting 2 Liberal 1 Labor, but in two wards Labor is narrowly ahead of the Greens: East and North wards. The Greens have one incumbent in the North Ward.

So that produces a council of 9 Liberal, 2-4 Labor and 0-2 Greens. That’s no change to the Liberal representation, but potentially some change within the progressive minority.

Tweed

Tweed saw small swings to Liberal, Labor and Greens, suggesting that voters are moving towards the party labels. It hasn’t changed any seat outcomes though, with the parties steady on 2 Liberal, 1 Labor and 1 Greens.

Incumbent councillor Chris Cherry has won a full quota and held her seat. Fellow incumbent Warren Polglase has run second on Kimberly Hone’s ticket, and Hone will win a seat.

Fellow councillor Meredith Dennis is on half a quota, and is currently leading for the seventh seat, but on such a low vote I can’t be certain. If she wins, the result will be very much a status quo outcome.

Wollongong

Labor’s Tania Brown will finally become lord mayor, with a primary vote of 40%. The Greens are second on 26%.

In Ward 1, Labor has won two seats, and the Greens are on 1.8 quotas, so will also win one. Independent candidate Ryan Morris is on 0.94 quotas in the ungrouped column, so will likely win, unless preferences from the other independent Suzanne de Vive favours the Greens strongly, in which case the Greens could win.

In Ward 2, Labor has won two seats, the Greens one, and independent Andrew Anthony has returned.

In Ward 3, Labor has won three seats and the Greens have won their first seat at the southern end of Wollongong.

This produces a total of 8 Labor, 3-4 Greens, and 1-2 independents. A clear Labor majority and a new era in Wollongong after 13 years being led by Gordon Bradbery.