Residents in the electorate of Terrigal remain on tenterhooks, with the seat still too close to call as the vote count continues following the March 25 State election.
Political pundits were calling the seat for Labor candidate Sam Boughton on Saturday night but by Sunday, the tide had turned as votes continued to roll in.
With pre-poll and postal votes still being counted, the figures have see-sawed since, with the lead switching between Boughton and Liberal incumbent MP Adam Crouch.
As CCN went to press, the Libs were sitting on 50.3 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, with Labor close behind at 49.7 per cent and a 12.8 per cent swing against the Liberal party.
The final outcome of the Terrigal electorate has the entire state on the edge of its seat.
While Labor swept to victory statewide just hours after the vote closed on Saturday, it needs one more seat to form a majority government, with four seats still too close to call.
All four of the Central Coast’s other seats have been held by their incumbent Labor MPs with increased majorities, reflecting the statewide swing to Labor.
If Boughton takes Terrigal, it will be the first time since 2015 that all five seats in the region have been held by members of the governing party in NSW.
The seats of Gosford, Terrigal, The Entrance, Wyong and Swansea all went blue with the Liberals’ resounding election win in 2011, but four were won back by Labor in 2015.
Terrigal has been held by the Liberal Party since it was created (encompassing most of the former electorate of Gosford) in the 2007 redistribution, first by Chris Hartcher (2007-2015) and by Crouch since 2015.
The close battle is one which Labor Party party insiders concede they had not anticipated.
Boughton himself said he was “quite shocked” as early figures rolled in on Saturday night.
On Wednesday, March 29, Crouch issued a statement thanking residents for messages of support and said he would continue “getting on with the job of representing the people of Terrigal” as the count continues.
In Gosford, Labor’s Liesl Tesch has retained her seat with an 8.56 per cent swing to Labor.
It was taken for Labor in 2015 by Kathy Smith, who was forced to resign for health reasons in 2017 and later succumbed to cancer.
Tesch won the seat at the 2017 by-election and has held it ever since.
The Entrance saw Labor’s David Mehan returned with a 2.58 per cent swing to Labor.
He has held the seat since 2015.
Likewise, David Harris retained his seat of Wyong with an 8.34 per cent swing to Labor.
He has held the seat since wrestling it back from the Libs in 2015.
Yasmin Catley has also retained the seat of Swansea, which she has held since 2015, with a 4.93 per cent swing to Labor.
See pages 4-5 of this week’s newspaper for more election coverage.
Terry Collins