2018 Darling Range state by-election

A Darling Range state by-election for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Darling Range was held on 23 June 2018 following the resignation of Barry Urban on 8 May.[1]

2018 Darling Range state by-election

23 June 2018
The Darling Range seat in the Legislative Assembly
Candidate Alyssa Hayden Tania Lawrence Party Liberal Labor Percentage 34.5 32.0 Swing 4.1 9.5 TPP in 2017 44.2% 55.8% TPP 53.5 46.5 TPP swing 9.3 9.3
The Darling Range seat in Western Australia
MP before election Barry Urban Labor Elected MP Alyssa Hayden Liberal

Won by Labor for the first time in the seat's history at the landslide 2017 state election, the Liberals regained the seat.[2]

Background

Following a large 19 percent two-party swing, Barry Urban was the first ever Labor candidate to be elected to the previously safe Liberal seat of Darling Range in the seat's 64 year history at the landslide state election in March 2017. In November 2017, Urban resigned from Labor and moved to the crossbench to sit as an independent, after questions were raised about his academic claims and his wearing an overseas police service medal he had not been awarded. Urban was referred to the procedures and privileges committee, which in May 2018 recommended his expulsion from the Legislative Assembly for contempt of parliament and misleading the House. Urban resigned immediately after the committee's report was released.[3]

Labor originally selected Colleen Yates as its candidate for the by-election. However, on 24 May 2018, Yates announced that she would withdraw from the race, after reporters discovered that she had incorrectly claimed multiple university degrees which she had never obtained on her LinkedIn profile.[4]

Candidates

Candidates (11) in ballot paper order[5]
Party		Candidate	Background
	Western Australia	Russell Goodrick	TV producer and journalist. Candidate for East Metropolitan region at the 2017 election.[5]
	Greens	Anthony Pyle	Disability support worker. Candidate for Armadale at the 2017 election.[6]
	Animal Justice	Jehni Thomas-Wurth	City of Armadale Librarian.[5]
	Liberal	Alyssa Hayden	Former member of the Legislative Council for East Metropolitan region.[5]
	Fluoride Free	John Watt	Candidate for East Metropolitan region at the 2017 election.[5]
	One Nation	Rod Caddies	Candidate for Agricultural region at the 2017 election.[5]
	Labor	Tania Lawrence	Manager at Woodside Petroleum and former public servant.[7]
	Christians	Eric Eikelboom	[5]
	SFF	Stuart Ostle	Candidate for Darling Range at the 2017 election.[5]
	Independent	Doug Shaw	Realtor and property manager.[5] Former state president of Pauline Hanson's One Nation.[8]
	Independent	George O'Byrne	[5]

Polling

Darling Range by-election polling

Date	Firm	Commissioned by	Sample	Primary vote							Two-party vote
				ALP	LIB	ONP	GRN	OTH	UND		ALP	LIB
c. 14 June 2018	ReachTEL	The Weekend West[9]	>600	37.5%	31%	9.4%	3.5%	~8.5%	~10%		54%	46%
2017 election				41.5%	30.4%	8.7%	7.7%	11.8%			55.8%	44.2%

Results

Darling Range state by-election, 2018[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alyssa Hayden	8,418	34.5	+4.1
	Labor	Tania Lawrence	7,809	32.0	−9.5
	One Nation	Rod Caddies	1,894	7.8	−1.0
	Greens	Anthony Pyle	1,427	5.8	−1.8
	Western Australia	Russell Goodrick	1,413	5.8	+5.8
	Christians	Eric Eikelboom	1,145	4.7	+0.3
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Stuart Ostle	1,112	4.6	+0.3
	Animal Justice	Jehni Thomas-Wurth	803	3.3	+3.3
	Independent	Doug Shaw	146	0.6	+0.6
	Independent	George O'Byrne	137	0.5	+0.5
	Fluoride Free WA	John Watt	106	0.4	+0.4
Total formal votes			24,410	95.6	+0.5
Informal votes			1,126	4.4	−0.5
Turnout			25,536	78.4	−11.1
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Alyssa Hayden	13,039	53.5	+9.3
	Labor	Tania Lawrence	11,331	46.5	−9.3
	Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+9.3

Ninety-two minutes after polling booths closed, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Antony Green called the by-election for the Liberals.[2]

See also

• List of Western Australian state by-elections
• 2018 Cottesloe state by-election

References

1. Caporn, Dylan. "Date of Darling Range by-election announced following resignation of Barry Urban". The West.
2. Commentary, 2018 Darling Range by-election: Antony Green ABC
3. Hondros, Nathan (8 May 2018). "Barry Urban quits WA parliament after committee moves for expulsion". WAtoday. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
4. Colleen Yates resigns as Labor Darling Range by-election candidate after Barry Urban scandal
5. 2018 Darling Range by-election guide: Antony Green ABC
6. Greens put forward Anthony Pyle for June 23 Darling Range by-election
7. "Labor names new Darling Range candidate Tania Lawrence after Colleen Yates, Barry Urban sagas". ABC News. 31 May 2018.
8. One Nation's WA president quits party to make solo poll run at Darling Range by-election: The West Australian 20 June 2018
9. ReachTEL: 54-46 to Labor in Darling Range - The Poll Bludger 17 June 2018
10. 2018 Darling Range By-election results: WAEC
11. 2018 Darling Range By-election results: Antony Green ABC

External links

• 2018 Darling Range By-election (Western Australian Electoral Commission)
• 2018 Darling Range by-election guide: Antony Green ABC
• 2018 Darling Range by-election guide: The Poll Bludger
• 2018 Darling Range by-election guide: The Tally Room