Electoral district of Willoughby

Willoughby
New South Wales—Legislative Assembly

Location within Sydney
State New South Wales
Dates current 1894–1920
1927–1988
1991–present
MP Gladys Berejiklian
Party Liberal Party of Australia
Area 23.56 km2 (9.1 sq mi)

Willoughby is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Gladys Berejiklian of the Liberal Party of Australia, who is the current Premier of New South Wales.

History

Willoughby was an electoral district of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, first created in 1894 with the abolition of multi-member electoral districts from part of St Leonards, and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Willoughby. With the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into the multi-member electorate of Ryde along with Burwood and Gordon. It was recreated in 1927 with the return to single-member electorates. It was abolished in 1988, with most of its territory becoming Middle Harbour. In 1991, Middle Harbour was abolished and replaced by a recreated Willoughby.

Like most seats in the North Shore, Willoughby is a stronghold for the Liberal Party. Counting its time as Middle Harbour, the Liberals or their predecessors have held the seat for all but one term since 1927. The one break in this tradition came in the "Wranslide" of 1978, when a split in the Liberal vote allowed Labor's Eddie Britt to sweep into office. However, a redistribution ahead of the 1981 election erased Britt's majority and made Willoughby notionally Liberal. Britt narrowly lost to future state opposition leader Peter Collins even in the face of the second "Wranslide."

Since then, Labor has usually run dead in Willoughby, and on some occasions has been pushed into third place. The only time the Liberal hold on the seat has been seriously threatened since the 1980s came on Collins' retirement in 2003. Pat Reilly, the longtime mayor of the City of Willoughby, ran as an independent and nearly defeated Liberal Gladys Berejiklian on Labor preferences. However, the seat reverted to form, and Berejiklian has held the seat without serious difficulty ever since.

Members for Willoughby

First incarnation (1894–1920)
Member Party Term
  Joseph Cullen Free Trade 1894–1894
  Edward Clark Free Trade 1894–1895
  George Howarth Free Trade 1895–1901
  Liberal Reform 1901–1903
  Charles Wade Liberal Reform 1903–1904
  Edward Larkin Labor 1913–1915
  John Haynes Independent Democrat 1915–1917
  Reginald Weaver Nationalist 1917–1920
Second incarnation (1927–1988)
Member Party Term
  Edward Sanders Independent Nationalist 1927–1930
  Nationalist 1930–1932
  United Australia 1932–1943
  George Brain Democratic 1943–1945
  Liberal 1945–1968
  Laurie McGinty Liberal 1968–1977
  Independent Liberal 1977–1978
  Eddie Britt Labor 1978–1981
  Peter Collins Liberal 1981–1988
Third incarnation (1991–present)
Member Party Term
  Peter Collins Liberal 1991–2003
  Gladys Berejiklian Liberal 2003–present

Election results

New South Wales state election, 2015: Willoughby[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Gladys Berejiklian 30,066 63.6 −5.4
Greens Alison Haines 7,511 15.9 −0.9
Labor Peter Cavanagh 7,507 15.9 +3.8
Cyclists Edward Re 845 1.8 +1.8
Christian Democrats Melody Ho 719 1.5 −0.7
No Land Tax Aldo Di Santo 662 1.4 +1.4
Total formal votes 47,310 97.6 +0.4
Informal votes 1,186 2.4 −0.4
Turnout 48,496 90.4 +2.3
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Gladys Berejiklian 31,481 73.8 −6.6
Labor Peter Cavanagh 11,163 26.2 +6.6
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Gladys Berejiklian 31,324 74.5 −3.2
Greens Alison Haines 10,739 25.5 +3.2
Liberal hold Swing −3.2

References

  1. ↑ State Electoral District of Willoughby: First Preference Votes, NSWEC.
  2. ↑ State Electoral District of Willoughby: Distribution of Preferences, NSWEC.
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