Commentary

18/09/2012 8:16:25 PM - Final figures now published for both Mayoral election and Sydney City Council election.

11/09/2012 4:00:00 PM - The counting of pre-poll and postal votes has seen the Council vote for Clover Moore's slip. It now looks like Moore will only elect four member from her team. The other five councillors look likely to be two Liberals, one Labor, one Green and one Living Sydney.

9/09/2012 5:18:36 PM - All figures have been updated during Sunday afternoon. All non-NSWEC councils except Gunnedah have also been updated.



A note on the final count in Sydney. It appears two seats remain in doubt on the Council. The last two spots will be fought out between three candidates, the fifth Clover Moore team candidate, the second Liberal and the lead candidate of Living Sydney. That will take the full count of all first preferences and the distribution of preferences to resolve.

01:02 - One last note. This site won't be updated on Sunday. Updated results will be available through the NSW Electoral Commission via the link in the column on the right of this page.

00:21 - Ashfield - The big losers in Ashfield were the Greens, whose vote fell 7.7% to 15.0%. Labor's vote also fell 1.3% to 26.1% whiloe the Liberal Party moved into first place, its vote up 7.4% to 26.5%.

00:19 - Auburn - For the first time the Liberal Party have topped the poll in Auburn, polling 24.6%, up 9.4% since 2008. Labor's vote fell 4.3% and the support for Unity collapsed.

00:17 - Bankstown - Labor retained its dominant position but its vote fell 5% and the Liberal vote was up around 10%. Labor could be reduced to 6 councillors and the Liberal Party could win five positions.

00:13 - Blacktown - another western Sydneyn council demonstrating a swing from Labor to Liberal, the Labor vote down 7.3% and the Liberal vote up 9.6%. With support for Independents squeezed, both parties could yet finish with seven councillors.

00:12 - Blue Mountains - both the Labor and Liberal Parties saw their vote rise by 10% as the support for Independents fell following the retirement of several councillors. Green support also fell.

00:08 - Burwood - A rare bright spot for Labor with its candidate John Faker likely to become Burwood Council's first popularly elected Mayor. The Labor vote was also up 2.8%, but the Liberals also rose 7%.

00:06 - Byron Shire - The Greens could yet retain their one popularly elected Mayor's post, with candidate Simon Richardson leading the Mayoral contest with 37.0%. He is currently 6% ahead of second placed independent Diane Woods.

00:04 - Camden - Having not previously contested this council, the Liberal party have reaped rich rewards polling 41% of the vote and potentially winning five of the nine councillors.

00:02 - Strathfield - at an election where only one sitting councillor re-contested, the Liberal Party made major gains in support, its vote up 14.8% to 45.7%, Labor down 9.7% and Independents down 5%. The Liberals may elect four of the seven councillors.

23:59 - Campbelltown - bad result for Labor with a swing of 7-8% from Labor to the Liberals. Labor won the local state seats of Campbelltown and Wollondilly at lasyear's state election and the swing has been reflected in these results.

23:56 - Canada Bay - A very good result for Labor Mayor Angelo Tsirekas who was easily re-elected with a big increase in his support. In the council vote Labor and the Liberals are neck and neck and Green support was down. Another council where party politics appears to have supplanted Independents.

23:54 - Canterbury - Labor's Brian Robson will succeed Robert Furolo as the popularly elected Mayor, but he has been forced to preferences and the Liberal Party have put in a much improved performance. The Liberal v ote was up 20% for council, but that was helped by contested all wards at this election.

23:51 - Eurobodalla - what are they putting in the water on the south coast? 21 candidates nominated for Mayor and no candidates reached 11%.

23:49 - Gosford - rare case of a council where the Liberal Party lost vote and Labor and Independents gained.

23:44 - Holroyd - follows the western Sydney pattern with a swing of about 5% from Labor to Liberal. The third team on Holroyd council, the Holroyd Independents, saw their vote down by 12%. The 4-4-4 deadlock on council could be broken with the Liberals a chance to win a fifth seat.

23:41 - Hornsby - The Liberal Party formally contested this council for the first time in 2012 and have come close tom knocking off Mayor Nick Bermann. Having been unable to get Liberal pre-selection in Hornsby for the 2011 state election, Berman ran unsuccessfully as an Independent and the Liberal Party may have gained revenge.

23:38 - Hurstville - Labor's vote was well down, partly because of formerm Labor councillor Philip Sansom running as an Independent. Against this, the Greens did not contest and the Liberal vote was up 5.6%, to the result matches that in neighbouring councils.

23:34 - Kogarah - A very strong result for the Liberal Party, its vote up 8.3% to 45.9% and likely to gain a seat on council. Labor's vote was down 5.8% to 24.4%.

23:31 - Port Macquarie-Hastings - In one of the more interesting regional results, Independent Peter Besseling looks set to be elected Mayor. He succedded Rob Oakeshott as member for Port Macquarie in 2008 but lost his seat at the 2011 state election. This is a good result for Besseling given the abuse that has been directed at oakeshott and independents in general since the last federal election.

23:27 - Leichhardt - The Greens lost nearly 11% of their support, losing votes to both Labor and the Liberals. The Greens remain the highest polling party on council, but as was shown by last year's state election result in Balmain, the Liberal Party vote is increasing in this area. The Greens are set to lose two seats and the council may finish 4 each for Labor, Liberal and the Greens.

23:25 - Lismore - Labor increased its strength in this regional city and Labor Mayor Jenny Dowell was easily re-elected.

23:21 - Liverpool - The most significant result of the night with the Liberal Party making major advances. Liberal Ned Mannoun has easily defeated Labor incumbent Wendy Waller to become Mayor of Liverpool, and the Liberals have also outpolled Labor in the council vote and may yet win more seats than Labor. Half of the Liberal increase cam at the expense of Independents while some of Labor's loss may have been to the Greens contesting the council for the first time.

23:18 - Manly - Jean Hay easily re-elected as Mayor and the Liberals also made adavances at the expense of their traditional opponents in Manly, the Independwents.

23:16 - Marrickville - A roughly 7% swing from Greens to Labor, Labor restored to its position as the highest polling party on council. The Liberal Party contested all wards for the first time and made advances at the expense of Independents. The Liberals could win their first seat on council by taking a seat from the Greens in Newtown.

23:14 - Parramatta - the pattern across western Sydney continues with Labor's vote well down, gains made by the Liberals, Greens and Independents.

23:12 - Randwick - As with neighbouring Waverley, the Liberal vote is up, the Labor vote static and the Green vote down.

23:07 - Ryde - Labor's vote fell 9% and have probably lost one seat on council. The Liberal Party retained its vote.



Rockdale - Liberal vote up 11.7% mainly at the expense of Independents.

23:02 - Sydney City Council - Clover Moore was easily re-elected with over half of the first preference supprt. The Liberals dinished second and the muched hyped Living Sydney team struggled into fourth place. Moore also looks set to retain control of the Council and should elect five councillors. The Liberals look set to win a second seat at the expense of the second Green candidate. This would elect Christine Forster, Tony Abbott's sister, to the council.

23:00 - The Hills - Liberal Party soaks up much of the vote previously with Independents and polls two-thirds of the vote, easily maintaining control of the council.

22:56 - Woollahra Liberals retain dominance and set to retain majority on council.

22:53 - Wyong Liberal vote up 7.0%, Labor down 2.8%, but most of Liberal gains at expense of Independents.

22:42 - Time for some comment on the individual council results now that all local booths have reported. Waverly - Liberal vote up 6.7% to 50%. The council has four three member wards and with 50% the Liberals look set to win 6 seats, could win a seventh and maybe even an eight. Labor's vote has been static with the Liberal gains against a 6.0% decline in Green vote.

20:21 - Looks like an easy win for Clover Moore

19:39 - Still no results

18:50 - I'm publishing new council figures about every 5 minutes. Sorry I don't have time stamping on page. Nothing yet for Sydney.

18:29 - Dowloading my figures from the NSWEC and will be a bit busy publishing so my comments might be a bit sparse.

18:00 - Polls have closed and the count starts.

16:52 - I've added a page of questions and answers if you are after some details of how voting took place.



Visit the home page where I have the links to all councils. You can also use the tabs across the top of this page to visit the Sydney Lord Mayor page and the Commentary page.

16:45 - Tonight I'll be publishing results for the 127 councils being reported by the NSW Electoral Commission. I'll be publishing results every few minutes through the evening from data provided by the Commission.



There are another nine councils where the number of nominations equalled the vacancies so an election was not required. Wollongong and Shellharbour also don't face election after being elected last year.



There is one complication for my updates caused by 14 councils that have chosen not to have the NSWEC run their elections. These councils are Botany Bay, Cessnock, Coffs Harbour, Fairfield, Gunnedah, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie, Lane Cove, Maitland, Newcastle, Penrith, Port Stephens, Shoalhaven and Sutherland. I have to update these councils manually and so will only do one update at the end of the night for each. On the page for each council I have included a link to where you can find more up to date results.



I will also be providing more detailed analysis of the contest for the Sydney Lord Mayor's position. When I get chance I will also add some commentary to the page you are reading now.

16:37 - I'm in the office this afternoon making sure all my software works, and watching the Swans versus the Crows. Missing lots of beers and cheers at the pub with my footy mate.



But enough of my problems. If you are after a bit of reading on the council elections, let me point to two blog post I've written this afternoon. One is on the 27 MPs who have had to choose between state and local politics under new local government election laws. (Click here to read)



I've also done a post on how the major parties have changed the rules for voting and the boundaries for Sydney City Council over the decades to try and get their candidate into the Sydney Lord Mayor's post. The last attempt by Labor in 2004 backfired and Clover Moore has had two easy victories since. I've also included a table of the polling place results from 2004, Moore winning the most first preference votes in all 35 polling places used in 2004 and polling more than 50% in 32 polling place. (Click here to read post)

10:30 - I'll be doing live commentary via this page on Saturday night.