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HomeNewsSteggall, Scamps claim Northern Beaches seats in historic win

Steggall, Scamps claim Northern Beaches seats in historic win

Incumbent independent for Warringah Zali Steggall has retained her seat and Dr Sophie Scamps has made history by taking Mackellar from the Liberal Party in today’s federal election, won nationally by Labor.

Who won the seat of Mackellar?

The seat of Mackellar has been held by the Liberal Party (and one Liberal defector) since the 1940s.  It was considered a very safe Liberal seat with a swing of 13.2%.

As at 11pm on Saturday 21 May 2022, incumbent Jason Falinski had suffered a 12% swing against him. At this time Falinski had less than 1,000 primary votes ahead of Sophie Scamps which was considered not enough to retain his seat after other party preferences were counted.

Dr Sophie Scamps, Independent challenger, takes Mackellar electorate from incumbent Liberal MP Jason Falinski in the 2022 Australian federal election.  Photo: Alec Smart
Dr Sophie Scamps celebrates with her family. Photo: Alec Smart

Mackellar turned their backs on Labor and Greens this election, with a large swing against Paula Goodman at -9.6%. One Nation and United Australia both had moderate increases to their votes, though they represented about 2,000 total votes each at last count.

You can view the most up to date electoral information from the ABC Mackellar page here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/mack

Who won the seat of Warringah?

Zali Steggall had a convincing win against Liberal opponent Katherine Deves, with an anticipated 60% of the vote, 45.4% primary vote at last count. Her major rival Deves was sporting a -6.6% swing away from the Liberals at last count. Labor and Greens saw notable 1.7% and 1.5% respective positive swings compared to last election. One Nation and United Australia Party had even larger swings but these represented about 1,500 votes each.

You can view the most up to date electoral information from the ABC Mackellar page here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/mack

“Isn’t it amazing!” Zali Steggall began during her acceptance speech at the Balgowlah RSL. “I’m actually quite emotional. It is such an amazing feeling to be here with all of you, you are the most absolutely amazing team…I have to say first and foremost thank you to my family who are here with me. It takes a village to make this happen it is a huge commitment to serve the community.”

Zali Steggall’s acceptance speech at Balgowlah RSL 21 May 2022. Photo: Ash Berdebes

“Politics can be about positive policies. It can be about our communities and a safer and better future for our kids.

“Communities are saying it is time for a new style of politics. We need to change the climate in Canberra if we want to have positive future focused policies and that is what WarringaH started in 2019.”

You can also view our chat with Zali straight after the acceptance speech, here.

Dr Sophie Scamps gave a ten-minute speech thanking her very enthusiastic fans at the function room in Dee Why RSL. Speaking to Manly Observer after the speech, Dr Scamps said she was “Incredibly excited and incredibly honoured all these people have stood up for a better future and a better way of being represented. So this is a win for democracy. And we put so much hard work into that because we know our young people deserve a bright and prosperous future. And that is what I’m fighting for.”

You can view her discussion with us below:

Who won the election?

With over half of the vote counted as at 11.30pm Saturday, Labor had won 72 seats, The Coalition 52 and independents 11. Labor needs 76 seats to form government. With 15 seats still in doubt it was most probable that Labor would officially become the ruling party overnight.

We recommend reading ABC electoral coverage in full here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal-election-2022/

The office tally room run by the Australian Electoral Commission can be reviewed here: https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDefault-27966.htm

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Manly Observer is an experiment in providing non-sensationalist hyperlocal news on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. We cover the big news across the LGA, but with a hyper focus on the Manly electorate encompassing Balgowlah, Seaforth, Freshwater, Brookvale and Curl Curl up to Dee Why. It is run by those living in the community for the benefit of an informed community. We care about an informed and connected community. That’s it. Simple. Thank you for your support in keeping quality local news alive!

Kim Smee, Editor


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