North Sydney mayor Jilly Gibson congratulated Mr Gunning on his election via his LinkedIn page. Credit:Daniel Munoz Mr Gunning, a 23-year old law student and former young Liberal, said he was "surprised to get in but super happy". He conceded the party "didn't see it as necessary" to campaign because it already had a public profile and "people know who we are". "We've got busy lives," he said. "We just thought we put the ticket up and see what the interest was for the Liberal Democrats in the area." Buoyed by the strong vote, he said the party would consider fielding candidates at the 2019 state election.

A self-described libertarian, Mr Gunning said his platform was best summarised as "smaller government, lower rates", adding that his beliefs aligned with those advocated by NSW senator and party figurehead David Leyonhjelm. "Most of the things he's prosecuting at a federal level I'd been looking to replicate at a much smaller level," he said. The Liberal Democrats, renowned for their libertarian policies such as gun rights, cannabis legalisation and small government, contested three seats at the North Sydney council election, as well as the popularly elected position of mayor. However, their candidacy baffled their competitors, who told Fairfax Media they did not sight any Liberal Democrat candidates on the hustings, and could not locate contact details for them to invite them to cross-candidate events. "I tried to get in contact with them. They were totally invisible. No literature, no corflutes, zero information," said Jilly Gibson, who was re-elected mayor. "They were a ghost party."

Ian Mutton, who ran against Mr Gunning in the Wollstonecraft ward and was also elected, said he did not see a "a single solitary piece of paper put out by the Liberal Democrats". "On the polling day, I visited all the polling booths and I saw no one representing or handing out for the Liberal Democrats. "It is actually disturbing to me that a person can command a significant vote without declaring a policy position on any matter at all." Independent Zoe Baker, also elected in the Woollstonecraft ward, described Mr Gunning as a "faceless" candidate who, along with the other Liberal Democrats "just did not campaign". "Nobody saw them. They were missing in action."

Despite this, Mr Gunning scraped across the line on preferences to win the third and final seat in Wollstonecraft, narrowly beating Cr Gibson's running mate Tim Kelly in a situation she likened to "being beaten by a footy team who didn't show up for the game". In a victory reminiscent of Senator Leyonhjelm's success at the 2013 federal election, Mr Gunning benefited from having the coveted first spot on the ballot paper, known as "donkey vote" position. He also acknowledged he probably benefited from the party's "Liberal" branding in a blue-ribbon area where the Liberal Party did not run endorsed candidates. "People in north Sydney are normally Liberals. It would make sense that some votes would flow to us." Liberal Party members instead contested the elections under the nominally independent Community First ticket, led by Jessica Keen who narrowly lost the party's preselection battle for the recent North Sydney byelection.

Thomas Shanahan, a former Liberal staffer who ran on the ticket but was not elected, said Mr Gunning's election was a clear indication the party needed to reconsider the policy. "[T]he party has to look at the grassroots membership and give them a chance to run under the Liberal banner and recover the vote which was lost to Liberal Democrats by virtue of that word Liberal being on the ballot." Unsure of how to reach Mr Gunning, mayor Jilly Gibson said she had resorted to congratulating him via LinkedIn, and had invited him to a cocktail event for the incoming councillors at her home next weekend. "I'll have a nice bottle of French bubbly on ice, so I hope he shows."