Electoral district of Northcote

Northcote
Victoria—Legislative Assembly
Location of Northcote (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
State Victoria
Created 1927
MP Lidia Thorpe
Party Greens
Namesake Suburb of Northcote
Electors 48,113 (2017)
Area 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)
Demographic Metropolitan

The electoral district of Northcote (/ˈnoːθ.kət/) is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers the suburbs of Alphington, Fairfield, Northcote, Thornbury, and part of Preston. It lies on the northern bank of the Yarra River between the Merri and Darebin creeks.

The seat was created in 1927 as a replacement for Jika Jika, and has been a comfortably safe Labor seat for its entire existence. It has only been held by six members. The seat's most historically prominent member is 34th Premier John Cain (senior). Upon Cain's death in 1957, he was succeeded by Frank Wilkes, who went on to become state Labor leader from 1977 to 1981.

Former ABC newsreader Mary Delahunty was elected in a 1998 by-election. As the electorate was safe for the Labor Party, the Liberals declined to nominate a candidate. However, partly due to the presence of a One Nation candidate, the Liberals took the unusual step of campaigning for the Australian Democrats, issuing a 'How to Vote Liberal' card which advocated voting Democrat, and then Premier Jeff Kennett also wrote to voters urging them to vote Democrat.[1]

While the law has since been changed stopping party campaigning directly for other parties, that the seat is safe for Labor has meant the Liberals have often run dead. Since the turn of the millennium, they have often been pushed into third place on the primary vote, allowing other parties, like the Greens in 2002, to become the main challengers to Labor. The Greens eventually won the seat in a 2017 by-election following the death of Labor member Fiona Richardson.

Members for Northcote

Member Party Term
  John Cain (senior) Labor 1927–1957
  Frank Wilkes Labor 1957–1988
  Tony Sheehan Labor 1988–1998
  Mary Delahunty Labor 1998–2006
  Fiona Richardson Labor 2006–2017
  Lidia Thorpe Greens 2017–present

Election results

Northcote state by-election, 2017[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Greens Lidia Thorpe 16,319 45.2 +8.9
Labor Clare Burns 12,779 35.4 −5.6
Independent Vince Fontana 1,864 5.2 +5.2
Liberal Democrats Dean Rossiter 1,497 4.1 +4.1
Independent Laura Chipp 1,152 3.2 +3.2
Animal Justice Nina Lenk 773 2.1 +0.4
Independent Philip Cooper 436 1.2 +1.2
Independent Russell Hayward 360 1.0 +1.0
Independent Joseph Toscano 331 0.9 +0.9
Independent Nevena Spirovska 215 0.6 +0.6
Independent Brian Sanaghan 208 0.6 +0.6
Independent Bryony Edwards 154 0.4 −0.4
Total formal votes 36,088 94.9 −0.9
Informal votes 1,940 5.1 +0.9
Turnout 38,028 79.0 −12.6
Two-candidate-preferred result
Greens Lidia Thorpe 20,137 55.6 +11.6
Labor Clare Burns 16,080 44.4 −11.6
After distribution of preferences
Greens Lidia Thorpe 18,380 50.9 N/A
Labor Clare Burns 14,410 39.9 N/A
Independent Vince Fontana 3,298 9.1 N/A
Greens gain from Labor Swing +11.6
Victorian state election, 2014: Northcote[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labor Fiona Richardson 15,928 41.0 −3.1
Greens Trent McCarthy 14,101 36.3 +4.4
Liberal Anthony D'Angelo 6,407 16.5 −3.2
The Basics Rock 'n' Roll Jamie McCarney 1,043 2.7 +2.7
Animal Justice Georgina Purcell 678 1.7 +1.7
Independent Bryony Edwards 324 0.8 +0.8
Total formal votes 38,871 95.8 −0.0
Informal votes 1,713 4.2 +0.0
Turnout 40,584 91.7 +2.1
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Fiona Richardson 21,783 56.0 −4.2
Greens Trent McCarthy 17,088 44.0 +4.2
Labor hold Swing −4.2

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ State District By-elections 2017: Northcote District, VEC.
  3. ↑ State Election 2014: Northcote District, VEC.
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