Electoral district of Northcote

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.

Northcote
VictoriaLegislative Assembly
Location of Northcote (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
StateVictoria
Created1927
MPKat Theophanous
PartyLabor
NamesakeSuburb of Northcote
Electors48,831 (2018)
Area21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)
DemographicMetropolitan
Coordinates37°46′12″S 145°0′36″E

The seat was created in 1927 as a replacement for Jika Jika, and has been a safe Labor seat for most of its existence. It has only been held by seven 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 political parties campaigning directly for other political parties, the fact that the seat has been traditionally 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. However, Labor regained the seat at the following election in 2018.

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 2017–2018
  Kat Theophanous Labor 2018–present

Election results

2018 Victorian state election: Northcote[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Kat Theophanous 17,748 41.71 +0.73
Greens Lidia Thorpe 16,816 39.52 +3.24
Liberal John MacIsaac 4,570 10.74 −5.74
Reason Franca Smarrelli 1,448 3.40 +3.40
Animal Justice David Bramante 1,026 2.41 +0.67
Liberal Democrats Samuel Fink 500 1.18 +1.18
Independent Bryony Edwards 444 1.04 +0.21
Total formal votes 42,552 95.70 −0.08
Informal votes 1,911 4.30 +0.08
Turnout 44,463 91.05 −0.61
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Kat Theophanous 35,417 83.23 +3.41
Liberal John MacIsaac 7,135 16.77 −3.41
Two-candidate-preferred result
Labor Kat Theophanous 22,004 51.71 −4.33
Greens Lidia Thorpe 20,548 48.29 +4.33
Labor gain from Greens Swing−4.33

References

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