The Inner West council covers suburbs immediately to the west of the Sydney city centre. The council is bounded by the Cooks River in the south and is bounded by Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River in the north, on the shoreline of the Balmain peninsula.
The council covers the suburbs of Annandale, Ashfield, Balmain, Dulwich Hill, Enmore, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Marrickville, Petersham, Rozelle, Stanmore, St Peters, Summer Hill, Sydenham, Tempe and parts of Croydon, Camperdown and Newtown. The council has a population of about 183,000 as of 2022.
- Wards
- Redistribution
- Incumbent councillors
- History
- Council control
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2021 results
- Vote breakdown by ward
- Results maps
Wards
Inner West is divided into five wards, with each ward electing three councillors.
Ashfield-Djarrawunang ward covers the south-western corner of the council, including Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill and southern parts of Ashfield. The ward is bounded by Wardell Road to the south-east, by the light rail line and Parramatta Road to the north-east, and the north-eastern boundary (which divides the suburb of Ashfield) runs along the railway line.
Balmain-Baludarri ward covers the northernmost part of the council, including all of the peninsula of the same name. The ward covers the suburbs of Balmain, Rozelle, Lilyfield and the northern parts of Annandale. The ward’s southern boundary runs along Booth St, Moore St, Balmain Road and the City West Link.
Leichhardt-Gulgadya ward covers those suburbs on the north side of Parramatta Road, as well as northern parts of Ashfield. The ward covers the suburbs of Haberfield, Leichhardt and parts of Ashfield and Annandale. The border runs through Annandale along Moore St and Booth St, while Ashfield is split along the railway line.
Marrickville-Midjuburi ward covers the south-eastern corner of the council, including Marrickville, St Peters, Sydenham and Tempe. The ward is bounded by Wardell Road to the west, Newington Road to the north and Edgware Road and the railway line to the north-east.
Stanmore-Damun ward covers the centre of the council, and its eastern edge. The ward covers the suburbs of Enmore, Lewisham, Petersham, Stanmore and those parts of Camperdown and Newtown to the west of King Street.
| Ashfield-Djarrawunang | Jessica D’Arienzo (Lab) | Mark Drury (Labor) | Dylan Griffiths (Grn) |
| Balmain-Baludarri | Darcy Byrne (Labor) | Kobi Shetty (Greens) | John Stamolis (Ind) |
| Leichhardt-Gulgadya | Marghanita Da Cruz (Greens) | Philippa Scott (Labor) | Tim Stephens (Labor) |
| Marrickville-Midjuburi | Mat Howard (Labor) | Justine Langford (Grn) | Zoi Tsardoulias (Lab) |
| Stanmore-Damun | Liz Atkins (Greens) | Pauline Lockie (Ind) | Chloe Smith (Labor) |
History
Inner West Council was created out of a merger of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils in 2016. The 2017 guide covers the previous history of these three councils and how much of the new council came from its predecessors.
These three councils had a long history of being governed singlehandedly by Labor, but by the 1990s that hold was starting to slip. Marrickville and Leichhardt in particular were strongholds for the Greens, although the Greens also did well on occasion in Ashfield.
In 2004, the Greens won five seats in Marrickville, four in Leichhardt and three in Ashfield.
Around this time, Labor, the Liberal Party and local independents began to forge anti-Greens alliances. Alliances like this one led Leichhardt throughout the term and led Marrickville for part of the term, with a Greens/independent alliance alternating in power depending on the draw of the hat. The first Liberal mayor of Leichhardt took the reins in 2005, serving between two Labor mayoral terms. The draw of the hat saw the first Greens mayor of Marrickville in 2005.
An alliance of Labor and independents also ran Ashfield, but without such a clear anti-Greens positioning.
The 2008 election was status quo in Ashfield and Marrickville, while the Greens won six out of twelve seats in Leichhardt, giving them a working majority. The Greens’ Jamie Parker took the mayoralty until he was elected as the state MP for Balmain in 2011, when he was succeeded by Rochelle Porteous.
The 2012 election was a good one for the right and a bad one for the Greens across the three councils. The Greens were reduced to four seats each in Leichhardt and Marrickville, and were wiped out in Ashfield. The first Liberals were elected in Marrickville, and a Labor/Liberal/independent coalition had a clear majority in Marrickville.
Labor and the Greens formed an alliance in Leichhardt, with Labor’s Darcy Byrne and the Greens’ Rochelle Porteous alternating in the mayoralty.
The Liberals were also strengthened in Ashfield but remained in opposition, with a governing alliance of Labor and independents still running the show.
The three councils were amalgamated to form the Inner West Council in 2016.
The first Inner West Council election in 2017 saw both Labor and Greens win five seats each, along with two Liberals and three independents. Those three independents included Vic Macri, a conservative councillor who had previously allied with Labor in Marrickville, John Stamolis, a centre-left councillor who had previously allied with the Greens in Leichhardt, and Pauline Lockie, a first-time left-wing independent councillor.
This gave an alliance of Labor, Liberal and Vic Macri an 8-7 majority in the first mayoral and deputy mayoral election. Labor’s Darcy Byrne has served as mayor for the first four years of the term, with Liberals (Julie Passas and Vittoria Raciti) taking the deputy mayoralty for two years, and independent Vic Macri taking the mayoralty in the other year.
The 8-7 split was not entirely solid. John Stamolis, who supported the Greens over Labor in 2017, chose to abstain on occasion and voted for Macri for deputy mayor in 2020.
The majority alliance broke down as the new council election was impending. The September 2021 mayoral election (only made necessary due to a three-month election day due to COVID-19) saw the Liberal councillors and Macri split from supporting Labor, originally voting for Macri and then abstaining.
The subsequent election went very poorly for the right-wing bloc on the council. The Liberal Party opted out of contesting the election, with both sitting Liberal councillors running as independents. Macri and those two independent Liberals all lost their seats, which ended up falling to Labor. This left Labor with eight out of fifteen seats on the council, a clear majority, while the seven councillors who had been in the minority were left intact with five Greens alongside Pauline Lockie and John Stamolis.
Council control
Labor has a clear but slim majority on the council.
Candidate summary
Sitting Greens councillors Dylan Griffiths, Kobi Shetty and Marghanita Da Cruz, Labor councillors Mark Drury and Zoi Tsardoulias and independent councillor Pauline Lockie are not running for re-election.
The Labor and Greens parties are both running in all five wards.
The Liberal Party is running in four wards, but is sitting out the Marrickville ward, where former councillor and fellow conservative Vic Macri is running.
Sitting independent councillor John Stamolis is the only other candidate to be running with an above-the-line box in the Balmain ward.
Assessment
It wouldn’t take much for Labor to lose their majority. Currently there is a bloc of seven councillors as an alternative group: the Greens, Lockie and Stamolis (although Stamolis has been less solid, and Lockie is retiring). If the Greens were to take Lockie’s seat in the Stanmore ward and win another seat elsewhere, that would open up the possibility of a majority that excludes Labor, or alternatively a Greens-Labor power-sharing arrangement of the kind previously seen on Leichhardt Council.
On the other hand, Labor could lose seats to the right. There were two Liberals plus Vic Macri on the 2017-21 council. They came to a governing arrangement with Labor which lasted most of the term before breaking down. None of them were re-elected in 2021, potentially in part caused by the Liberal Party deciding not to officially endorse candidates.
The Liberal Party will probably do better than the independent Liberals did in 2021. If a group to the right of Labor can win back seats, they will likely be able to come to an arrangement with Labor to share power. But in such a progressive area, Labor would prefer to govern alone.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won |
| Labor | 40,113 | 38.56 | +4.7 | 8 |
| Greens | 37,499 | 36.04 | +7.2 | 5 |
| Other independents | 20,205 | 19.42 | -0.3 | 2 |
| Independent Liberal | 5,181 | 4.98 | -12.6 | |
| Animal Justice | 876 | 0.84 | +0.8 | |
| Socialist Alliance | 161 | 0.15 | +0.2 | |
| Informal | 3,795 | 3.52 |
Vote breakdown by ward
The following table shows the vote in each ward.
Labor topped the primary vote, ranging from 34.2% in Stanmore-Duman to 43.8% in Marrickville-Midjuburi.
The Greens weren’t far behind, with a vote ranging from 34% in Balmain-Baludarri to 38.1% in Stanmore-Duman. The Greens outpolled Labor in just one ward – Stanmore-Damun.
Five independents polled over 10% in their ward. John Stamolis was elected with 29.5% in Balmain-Baludarri, and Pauline Lockie was elected with 26.9% in Stanmore-Damun. Right-leaning independents Victor Macri (20.4%), Morris Mansour (16.1%) and independent Liberal Vittoria Raciti (16%) all lost, as did independent Liberal Julie Passas with 8.7% in Ashfield-Djarrawunang.
| Ward | ALP % | GRN % | IND % | LIB IND |
| Ashfield-Djarrawunang | 38.9 | 36.3 | 16.1 | 8.7 |
| Balmain-Baludarri | 36.5 | 34.0 | 29.5 | 0.0 |
| Leichhardt-Gulgadya | 39.5 | 36.1 | 8.4 | 16.0 |
| Marrickville-Midjuburi | 43.8 | 35.8 | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| Stanmore-Damun | 34.2 | 38.1 | 26.9 | 0.0 |
Election results at the 2021 Inner West Council election
Toggle between primary votes for Labor, the Greens, independent candidates John Stamolis, Pauline Lockie, Victor Macri, Morris Mansour and independent Liberal candidates.
Candidates – Ashfield – Djarrawunang (Magpie) Ward
- A – Liberal
- Wenjie Zhang
- Funing Guo
- Lauren Shen
- B – Labor
- Cr Jessica D’Arienzo
- Jo Carlisle
- Elayn James
- C – Greens
- Izabella Antoniou
- Nabilah Chowdhury
- Beth Allen
Candidates – Balmain – Baludarri (Leather Jacket) Ward
- A – Greens
- Ismet Tastan
- Shelley Booth
- Michael Davis
- B – Labor
- Cr Darcy Byrne
- Kerrie Fergusson
- Brian Frankham
- C – Liberal
- Christian Bracci
- Joanne Navarra
- Elizabeth Levy
- D – Independent
- Cr John Stamolis
- Tracey Brooks
- Kathleen Hacking
- Ungrouped
- Dorothy Bassil (Independent)
- Taneal Sultana (Independent)
Candidates – Leichhardt – Gulgadya (Grass Tree) Ward
- A – Liberal
- Vittoria Raciti
- Maurizio Coco
- Domenico Stefanelli
- B – Greens
- Andrew Blake
- Luciana Carusi
- Brooke Richards
- C – Labor
- Cr Philippa Scott
- Cr Tim Stephens
- Emma Taksa-Grimshaw
- Ungrouped
- Matthew O’Connor (Libertarian)
Candidates – Marrickville – Midjuburi (Lillypilly) Ward
- A – Independent
- Victor Macri
- Arthur Alepidis
- Catherine Nguyen
- B – Labor
- C – Greens
- Olivia Barlow
- Cr Justine Langford
- Peter Olive
Candidates – Stanmore – Damun (Port Jackson Fig) Ward
- A – Labor
- Cr Chloe Smith
- Vicki Clay
- Mits Delisle
- B – Liberal
- Rosana Tyler
- Alicia Tyler
- Edward Tyler
- C – Greens
- Cr Liz Atkins
- Flynn Franklin-Baker
- Robert Shield
Labor and the Greens will retain control of this council, including the Mayor.
Ben, can you put a guide for Canada Bay up?
Nope sorry, they fell below the cut-off and it would be a lot more work to add more councils after the fact.
How could the Greens possibly “retain control” of a council where they are most certainly in opposition?
@Ben Raue, my mistake, I thought this was the council with a Labor-Greens majority.
You might find these guides informative to read then. Labor hold a majority in their own right and prior to that they were supported by Liberals and a conservative independent. The Greens only held the mayoralty for 3 months in 2021 when the conservatives abstained. Otherwise the Greens have been in opposition to Labor since 2017.
@Ben Raue I don’t have Patreon sorry.
Happy to show you if you need. It’s really not hard to work out.
Is deamalgation still on the cards here?
We’re a long way off, but the previous Labor-Liberal coalition here makes me wonder if such a grand coalition may be a possibility at higher levels of governments in the future if the major parties continue to decline in support.
I really wish Haberfield was put into Canada Bay LGA it fits better demographically there.
@Nimalan
While I know little of the area, I agree and I think Ashfield has more in common with Burwood/Strathfield and gravitates there as a “hub”. Summer Hill I think makes sense being in the same council as Marrickville etc. though. Of course, I would be happy to be corrected on any of this.
@ Leon, Agree Ashfield is quite CALD has more detached housing etc so demographically maybe a cheaper version of Strathfield/Burwood. Haberfield also has detached housing, it is a garden suburb and is often referred to as the birthplace of Australian suburbia. Haberfield is very Italian and Catholic so does not really fit with the rest of the council demographically.
Three whole weeks out from the election here in Balmain Ward, and Liberal posters have gone up. We’ve even got a Liberal leaflet in the letterbox. It’s almost like they’re actually campaigning!! Here are my predictions for this ward. ALP vote is trending down (43% in 2017, 36.5% in 2021) and I think that will drop a little further (34%?), but still tipping Darcy to get seat (1). Greens vote leapt from 22% in 2017 to 34% in 2021 due to the complete absence of Liberals, so that will drop back this time (26%?), also given the new candidate, but I think they will still pick up seat (2). The final seat to be a battle between Stamolis and the Libs. Last time that happened (2017) Stamolis snuck home by 210 votes against an unknown Lib who didn’t campaign. Just imagine what could happen if the Libs actually tried! I’m guessing 20% Lib, 18% Stamolis (and 2% ungrouped) with the Libs to win seat (3) by a whisker. Probably a bit of a high estimate for the Libs but I’m feeling bold.
The ward map appears to have an error. https://elections.nsw.gov.au/elections/find-my-electorate/councils/inner-west/stanmore-damun-(port-jackson-fig)-ward shows the south end of Damun as being along the train tracks including Lord and Darley St, not Wells Street.
Hmm, thanks for that. It appears that has been the case since 2017.
Ah @Nimalan, don’t want our precious Haberfield mucked around with.
Not that we would have any say in the matter, but that would put us at the tail end of Canada Bay.
It’s probably more CALD than you realise, and less Catholic.
But Haberfield has strong ties to both Leichhardt and Five Dock, but for the Garden suburb which parts of Concord and parts of Strathfield (my former suburb) emulate – but Haberfield was First!
@GNav, I expect Stamolis will do better than you suggest. He has a lot to offer and I wish him well!
My regret is that we don’t have more independents standing. – We almost had one in Leichhardt Ward, but there was an eleventh hour change of mind. 😢
As Albanese is the federal MP for most of the council residents, I wonder if there will be an anti-Labor protest vote that will benefit the Greens and possibly the Liberals. Palestine comes to mind, as do other foreign affairs issues, climate change and cost of living.
There may be an anti-Minns vote or a vote to counter Labor on the state and federal level. It’s just a wild thought as councils politics are lesser known.
@Votante that type of vote would go to the Greens and/or independents, not the Liberals.
There may a cohort switching to the Liberals due to cost of living but I do agree that the Greens would benefit the most from protest votes.
Damon, the maps (both here and the original boundary files) have been fixed.
Thanks for updating the ward boundary maps – just FYI the text description of the Marrickville ward boundary is still written as Wells instead of Lord St.
And thank you so much for this resource generally – this is my first council election in NSW & you’ve made it much easier to wrap my head around some of the unfamiliar context.
Well, that wasn’t one of my better predictions! Many more votes yet to count, of course, but in Balmain ward I clearly under-estimated Labor, and over-estimated Liberals and Stamolis. I was pretty close for Greens and Ungrouped, though. It looks likely that Labor’s No.2 candidate will clinch the 3rd spot in this ward, ahead of the Liberal candidate. It seems very likely that Stamolis is defeated.
It’s interesting to see how the positions have shifted after four days of further counting. Labor and Liberal up, Greens down, compared to the initial figures. Overall looks like Labor 7, Greens 5, Others 3. If the trend continues, Labor’s hopes of all those Greens preferences handing them ‘come from behind’ victories over Macri in Marrickville and Zhang in Ashfield seem somewhat forlorn.