Hornsby covers northern parts of Sydney. The council covers the suburbs of Beecroft, Cheltenham, North Epping, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh, Cherrybrook, Westleigh, Normanhurst, Hornsby, Asquith, Hornsby, Mount Colah, Mount Ku-ring-gai, Berowra and Brooklyn.
The council has a population of about 152,000 as of 2022.
- Wards
- Incumbent councillors
- History
- Council control
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2021 results
- Vote breakdown by ward
- Results maps
Wards
Hornsby is divided into three wards, with each ward electing three councillors. There is also a directly-elected mayor.
A ward is the northernmost ward, and covers the majority of the council’s land area. It stretches from the Hawkesbury to the Hornsby city centre, and covers Hornsby Heights, Mount Colah, Mount Ku-ring-gai, Berowra and Brooklyn.
B ward covers the centre of the council, including Westleigh, Normanhurst, Thornleigh and parts of Asquith and Hornsby.
C ward covers the southern end of the council, including Beecroft, North Epping, Cheltenham and Cherrybrook.
Incumbent mayor
Philip Ruddock (Liberal)
Incumbent councillors
| Ward A | Tania Salitra (Greens) | Nathan Tilbury (Ind) 1 | Warren Waddell (Liberal) |
| Ward B | Monika Ball (Greens) | Sallianne McClelland (Lib) | Janelle McIntosh (Labor) |
| Ward C | Verity Greenwood (Lib) | Emma Heyde (Greens) | Sreeni Pillamarri (Lib) |
1Nathan Tilbury resigned from the Liberal Party in August 2024.
History
The Liberal Party has long dominated state and federal elections in Hornsby Shire, but until recently did not run official candidates for council elections.
At the 2004 election, three Labor councillors were elected, along with five independents and one Greens councillor. Independent candidate Nick Berman was elected as mayor, with one of the five independents elected on his ticket in his ward. Berman had links with the Liberal Party, and went on to stand for Liberal preselection for the 2011 state election.
At the 2008 election, Labor lost two of their seats to the Greens, for a total of three seats going to the two parties of the left. The remaining six seats went to independents, four of whom had various links to the Liberal Party. Berman was also re-elected as mayor.
Berman’s relationship with the Liberal Party broke down before the 2011 state election. After losing preselection for the state seat of Hornsby, Berman resigned from the party and ran for Hornsby as an independent. Berman polled 22% of the primary vote and 37% after preferences, missing out on the seat.
The Liberal Party first ran official Liberal candidates for Hornsby Council in 2012. The Liberal Party’s Steve Russell challenged Berman for the mayoralty, and narrowly won by a 1331-vote margin, with 50.85% of the vote after preferences were distributed.
The Liberal Party won two seats in each ward, for a total of six councillors (plus the mayor). Independents Nick Berman, Bernadette Azizi and Mick Gallagher all won seats on the council, while Labor and the Greens missed out on winning any seats.
There was a proposal to amalgamate Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai as part of the 2016-17 council amalgamation process. Hornsby supported the merger, but Ku-ring-gai opposed the merger and it eventually failed. Hornsby Shire did however lose part of Epping to the City of Parramatta, and this change did proceed.
The 2017 election saw almost every seat go to a member of one of the three bigger parties. Former federal MP Philip Ruddock, who had retired after over forty years in federal parliament, ran as the Liberal candidate for mayor and won easily. He also brought in another four Liberals with him.
Labor and the Greens returned to the council, winning two seats each. Vince Del Gallego was also elected as an independent.
During the 2017-21 term, Ruddock was generally able to put together a working majority, sometimes with the support of Del Gallego or with one of the Labor councillors.
The 2021 election saw a consolidation of Liberal and Greens support at the expense of Labor and the independents. The sole independent councillor and one of the two Labor councillors were defeated. The independent lost to the Liberal Party and the Labor councillor lost to the Greens. The new council had 6 Liberals (including the re-elected mayor Ruddock) opposed by three Greens and one Labor.
Council control
The Liberal Party had a clear but thin majority of six seats, with the opposition made up of four members of centre-left parties, primarily the Greens.
The Liberal Party is running for mayor and in all three wards, although in A Ward they only have two candidates and thus can’t receive votes above the line.
The Greens are also running a full ticket. Labor is running in two wards and for mayor.
Nathan Tilbury was a Liberal councillor until shortly before the close of nominations but is running as an independent for mayor and A Ward.
Independent candidates Tom Sellers and Benjamin Caswell are also running for wards B and C.
Assessment
The Liberal Party is strong in Hornsby but internal division will likely see them lose ground.
The Liberal support base is split in the mayoral election between A Ward councillors Warren Waddell and Nathan Tilbury. The latter is being supported by outgoing mayor Philip Ruddock, who lost Liberal preselection to the former. It’s likely one of them will come out on top over the progressive mayoral candidates but hard to say who. Waddell does still have the support of the Liberal machine, while Tilbury is only running in one ward.
On the council, the Liberal Party should win one seat in every ward, while Labor or Greens will also win one seat, with the third seat in play. It seems likely that the Liberals will at least win a fourth seat in C Ward, although an independent could grab that instead. They will also be looking to win back either the Labor or Greens seat in B Ward, but there is also an independent there.
A Ward is the most interesting, with Tilbury and Waddell repeating their mayoral contest. It seems likely that each will poll enough to win a quota, with the third going to the Greens. But Waddell is disadvantaged by lacking a third candidate in his group, and thus not being able to gain above the line votes. This makes it harder for Waddell’s voters to cast a formal vote. It also means that, if Waddell is elected mayor, more of his votes may not pass on to his running mate automatically, whereas above the line votes for Tilbury will all pass to his running mate if he is disqualified due to winning the mayoral ballot.
Overall it seems likelier that the Liberals will retain the mayoralty, but Tilbury’s defection will mean one less Liberal councillor, and thus the loss of their clear majority.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won |
| Liberal | 42,748 | 50.25 | +6.3 | 5 |
| Greens | 23,904 | 28.10 | +9.1 | 3 |
| Labor | 11,755 | 13.82 | -3.0 | 1 |
| Vince Del Gallego | 3,939 | 4.63 | -1.1 | |
| Benjamin Caswell | 2,725 | 3.20 | +3.2 | |
| Informal | 2,732 | 3.11 |
2021 mayoral election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Philip Ruddock | Liberal | 49,065 | 57.28 | +9.5 |
| Emma Heyde | Greens | 36,591 | 42.72 | +24.3 |
| Informal | 2,136 | 2.43 |
Vote breakdown by ward
The following tables show the vote in each ward. Unfortunately the mayoral results were not separated by ward, so we can only identify the home ward of ordinary votes.
The Liberal primary vote ranged from 48.6% in Ward B to 51.7% in Ward C.
The Greens came second, outpolling Labor in every ward and unsurprisingly doing best in Ward C where Labor did not stand. The Greens vote ranged from 22.2% in Ward A to 34.2% in Ward C.
Labor’s primary vote was 18% in Ward A and 23.4% in Ward B. Ward B was the strongest for the combined Labor and Greens vote, with 51.4%. This was helped by the absence of any independent.
Independents polled 14% in Ward C and 9.5% in Ward A. Neither was elected.
For the mayoral ballot, the Liberal vote was generally a bit higher in the absence of any Labor or independent candidates. The Greens did best in Ward B, although the Ward B vote almost certainly overstates Greens support as it only includes ordinary votes cast in the area.
Council results by ward
| Ward | LIB % | GRN % | ALP % | IND % |
| Ward A | 50.4 | 22.2 | 17.9 | 9.5 |
| Ward B | 48.6 | 28.0 | 23.4 | 0.0 |
| Ward C | 51.7 | 34.2 | 0.0 | 14.0 |
Mayoral results by ward
| Ward | LIB % | GRN % | % of total |
| Ward A | 56.6 | 43.4 | 23.6 |
| Ward B | 55.0 | 45.0 | 16.8 |
| Ward C | 58.6 | 41.4 | 14.5 |
| Other votes | 58.1 | 41.9 | 45.1 |
Election results at the 2021 Hornsby Shire election
Toggle between primary votes for the Liberal Party, the Greens, Labor and independent candidates Vince Del Gallego and Benjamin Caswell.
Election results at the 2021 Hornsby Shire mayoral election
Toggle between primary votes for the Liberal Party and the Greens.
Candidates – Mayor
- Cr Warren Waddell (Liberal)
- Cr Janelle McIntosh (Labor)
- Cr Nathan Tilbury (Independent)
- Roger Woodward (Independent)
- Cr Tania Salitra (Greens)
Candidates – Ward A
- A – Liberal
- Cr Warren Waddell
- Jane Seaglove
- B – Greens
- Olivia Simons
- Peter Dickson
- David Field
- C – Independent
- Cr Nathan Tilbury
- Kate Friend
- Kristie Chambers
- Ungrouped
- Benjamin Goode
Candidates – Ward B
- A – Labor
- Cr Janelle McIntosh
- Lilith Smart
- Rory McClelland
- B – Liberal
- Cr Sallianne McClelland
- Geoffrey Knowles
- Grahame Bateman
- C – Greens
- Cr Monika Ball
- Matthew Ting
- Dana Hatley
- D – Independent
- Tom Sellers
- Nathan Calder
- Milly Scott
- Ungrouped
- Ilan Weihart
Candidates – Ward C
- A – Labor
- Matthew Conley
- Barbara Taylor
- Andrew Macdonald
- B – Greens
- Cr Tania Salitra
- Ana Warnecke
- Robyn Wheatley
- C – Liberal
- Cr Verity Greenwood
- Ben McSweeney
- Samyuta Pillamarri
- D – Independent
- Benjamin Caswell
- Elizabeth Cardelli
- James Rowland
- Ungrouped
- Harrison Chudleigh
I am wondering if Ruddock can be beaten because 7.3% margin doesn’t look completely unbeatable.
As a side note, I always think Hornsby Shire crossing the Galston Gorge and including Cherrybrook, Dural, Galston etc. is weird because I thought they fit better with the Hills Shire than in here, both by geography and voting patterns. (Note: I never lived anywhere near here but my former high school falls in this council area)
@Leon given voting trends I’m gonna say that Ruddock will hold the mayoralty and the Liberals will retain control of Hornsby.
Agree Leon, the Hornsby/Hills Shire boundary awkwardly divides Cherrybrook and possibly WPH in two along Castle Hill Rd instead of it passing through the forested areas further east.
Agree with Leon and Yoh An – and I have lived in Cherrybrook. People in Cherrybrook strongly identify as being part of the Hills District. I’d say the boundary gets even worse further north, where by following Old Northern Road, it savagely slices up small semirural communities.
@Nether Portal
I assumed so, but I noticed that in the 2022 Federal Election, I noticed that every (on the day) booths from Brooklyn to Cheltenham in Berowra electorate returned at least 18.7% for the Greens in primaries (in a field of 10 candidates or something). Every other significant clusters of 17.5+% booths in Greater Sydney (I used senate figures because of independents/strong incumbent in many of these areas) were at least one of Beachside, Hippie or reasonably clearly Inner City because I found:
– Waverley/Bondi to Coogee/Randwick area (Beachside, I think close enough to Inner City)
– Balgowlah/Manly to Brookvale/Curl Curl area (Beachside)
– Possibly (???) parts the former Pittwater LGA but I need to check again later (Beachside)
– North Sydney LGA, Artarmon and the rest of Postcode 2065 (Inner City)
– The usual stuff in Sydney/Grayndler (Inner City and parts presumably Hippie)
– Parts of Upper Blue Mountains (Presumably Hippie) if this still counts as Greater Sydney
I highly doubt anything in Hornsby Shire is any of Beachside, Hippie (maybe bar Brooklyn) or Inner City
–Summary–
@Leon, interesting look at the Green vote. If you look at the 2021 results across adjacent councils, you can see the Greens expanding beyond traditional bases and solidifying current positions. This is based mainly in strong traditional Liberal areas, with Labor becoming weaker across the edges of Northern Sydney (as discussed previously verbatim on the Northern Beaches and previous Hornsby thread) and in some ways, was a foreshadow of trending voting changes that brought the teal wave in 2022. [EDIT: Another thing to note is Tania Salitra ran as the Greens candidate in all the last 3 elections in this area and this profile could also have helped the Greens vote in 2022 Fed and 2023 State.]
–Comparison–
When looking at Hornsby, west neighbouring The Hills and north-east neighbouring Northern Beaches, the Greens gained one councilor in each. In Northern Beaches, it was at the expense of a well-known Independent, in Hornsby, it was at the expense of Labor and in The Hills, it was an the expense of Liberals. What makes Hornsby more remarkable is it’s strong Green vote in the northern reaches of Ward A hadn’t translated to a position for councilor before now. Whereas, The Greens benefited in Northern Beaches (Pittwater Ward) and The Hills (North Ward) of Labor pulling out from previous election.
As a comparison to competitive Labor vs Liberal areas that neighbour Hornsby to the south, the Greens held station in Parramatta while they were wiped out in Ryde.
It’s a surprise that the Greens don’t contest Ku-ring-gai council. Although, there is a current Voices of Ku-ring-gai movement that could potentially support candidates in the upcoming election there, which may hinder the Greens entering that council.
–Looking back on 2021–
What won it for the Greens in Ward A back in 2021, was their vote substantially increased and overtook Labor for ‘best of the rest’ against the Liberals (Aided by two independent groups disappearing). Remembering also that Labor almost didn’t have a seat in this council with a very close contest in Ward B that could have left the council 7 Libs vs 3 Grns.
–Final Thoughts for now/2024 Election–
Mayoral: It will most likely be another LIB vs GRN contest as it’ll be hard to Labor as they don’t have many high profile candidates for this area. Whether it’s Ruddock or not, still see this as a Liberal Retain.
Ward A: Both Tilbury (LIB) and Waddell (LIB) have been Deputy Mayor this term and have compliment their profiles respectively on the East and the West of the Ward, it’s hard to see either of them loosing. Like 2021, this will be 2 LIB and last seat will be open, with GRNs starting, of course, as favourites.
Ward B: Sallianne (LIB) and Janelle (ALP) both have high profiles in the community compared to Monika (GRN). If Janelle runs again, I think this will save Labor’s seat here. But I can see this being a 2 LIB and either 1 GRN or 1 ALP in 2024.
Ward C: This surprised me with the loss of the IND Councilor in 2021. Sreeni (LIB) is very active on social media and built up a profile in the community. This far out, it’s hard to see anything but 2 LIB and 1 GRN, even if ALP do contest here this time.
So it’s a Liberal Control Retain.
One of the issues that has come out over the last 6 months has been the attempted moves by Nathan Tilbury to kick Pennant Hills District Cricket Club off Pennant Hills Park (Pennant Hills Oval and Ern Holmes Oval). The word is that certain members of the Liberal Party have fallen out significantly with the president of the cricket club, resulting in a motion from Tilbury to have the club phased off from the ground. The Vote was defeated 7-2 but, from the information I have so far, this situation is far from over.
Similar to KRG, the other issue will be over-development in the area.
According to the FDC Registers, the starting gun has been fired in the race for Hornsby, with Ward B having a group registered as of 11/4/24. This group is aptly called ‘The Moderates’ with two candidates currently listed as Thomas Sellers and Millicent Scott. Group B didn’t have any independent groups last time, with just the big 3 (ALP, LIB & GRN) running.
As the final seat was VERY close in this Ward last time, any extra groups could really effect that outcome. If as ‘Moderates’ they take votes off ALP, this would then hand the last seat to the LIBs. If they take votes off the LIBs, it makes Janelle Mcintosh (ALP) hold on the last seat more secure, keep to a status quo of 1 LIB 1 GRN 1 ALP. If this Independent Group does run and takes votes off each, it could make for a very interesting 3 way battle for the final two seats between GRN 1, ALP 1 and LIB 2. (The LIBs are guaranteed 1 seat here.)
Although, I shouldn’t discount this group as their Platform/Objective clearly states their goal ‘to win’.
Aaaaaaand Philip Ruddock got knifed in the Liberal peselection for Mayor.
Personally doubt he will run for a ward based on 2021 but I am happy to be corrected.
Fun fact, the 7.3% margin from 2021 Hornsby Mayoral was the closest Ruddock came to being unseated at an election since taking a Hornsby-based seat in 1993. (Prior, he won 1973 Parramatta by-election by 7.3%, almost lost it in 1974, and then almost lost Dundas in 1983.)
@Leon so is this it for Philip Ruddock? A full retirement from politics? Mind you he’s getting pretty old now yet he still is a big figure in the Liberal Party.
Hornsby will be one council to watch on election night with so many changes and the recent schism in the local Liberal Party. Last time the Mayoral race only had two candidates (Lib vs Grn) but there seems to be currently 5 candidates, with all but one being an incumbent councillor.
Big moves though on the councillor party side:
Sreeni Pillamarri – Hornsby Council [Ward C] (LIB) > Parramatta Council [Epping Ward] (LIB)
Tania Salitra – [Ward A] (GRN) > [Ward C] (GRN)
Emma Heyde (GRN – Retiring)
There are rumours on a couple of other changes but we’ll find out for sure on nominations.
Labor is contesting all wards (didn’t contest Ward C in 2021). There seems to be a minimum of 4 Groups for each ward (LIB, LAB, GRN, IND). This increase includes the IND ticket in Ward B.
This is the most open race for Hornsby in a while and have the following predictions so far:
Ward A – 1 Lib, 1 Ind, 1 OPEN (most likely 2nd Lib vs 1st Lab or 1st Grn)
Ward B – 1 Lib, 1 Lab, 1 OPEN (2nd Lib vs 1st Grn vs 1st Ind)
Ward C – 1 Lib, 2 OPEN (1st Grn vs 1st Ind vs 2nd Lib)
@Politics Obsessed and Philip Ruddock lost preselection for Mayor.
So glad Ruddock lost his endorsement. His comments afterwards were entirely lacking in grace (and fact). I think it a significant possibility that he will run for mayor as an independent, splitting the Liberal vote.
@Nether Portal – I know, think that was already stated a fair bit. I don’t see GRNs being second in the Mayoral race at all now that there is LAB back again and 2x IND. I can see it being a LIB vs LAB or LIB vs IND contest.
Waa there branch stacking in the liberal party here?
Maybe Hawke eye knows
@Mick – Hornsby has been a Photios stronghold for years so the branch-stacking idea would have minimal impact. Anything around that would be purely personality-driven.
The only reason Phillip Ruddock got in was because of his shear presence and the allure of having a former Howard Minister as Mayor of the area. Since then, the Mods have been flexing their factional muscle in the area to solidify their position.
Nice to see Phil Ruddock-park lost his pre. Old man shouting at a cloud, embarrassing his seat. His only accomplishment was to force the Pennant Hills Chemist Warehouse to move because he didn’t like the colour it was painted. SLOW HAND CLAP. Oh, also the debacle over not spending the money ScoMo granted him to add sporting fields to his own (Dad’s) park.