John Alexander Wins Bennelong

John Alexander will be re-elected as the Member for Bennelong after a snap By-Election caused by his dual citizenship, with 54.3% of the vote.

The result was fast for the incumbent within the first few hours after polls closed it was clear he will be returned.

Initially with an 11% swing it seemed Kristina Keneally may be getting ahead with one election booth reporting but within a few minutes once 27% of the vote was counted it was clear the approximately 5% swing she will receive wouldn’t be enough to unseat the incumbent.

The swing now stands at 5.4% to Kristina Keneally however it would’ve required a near 10% swing for her to win.

Both sides are interpreting the result however it’s difficult to try and extrapolate that this result may be reflected nationally any more than the result in New England for the DPM Barnaby Joyce will be.

However it is worth noting this was a safe Liberal seat and so the polling of late is accurate from this result.

The Prime Minister made an exuberant speech at John Alexander’s election function where he thanked new Federal Director Andrew Hirst and NSW Director Chris Stone for their work, he mentioned the Nationals who came to campaign as the Liberals did in New England for Barnaby Joyce and said “it’s an incredible moment of elation”.

The Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also claimed it was a success for his team saying this is a swing that shows he can win government.

This was a close one for the PM but he made it through which is a early Christmas present.

Had the election gone the other way he would have lost his majority in the House of Representatives and that would’ve left his government in jeopardy.

There’s still MYEFO (Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook) to come tomorrow and potentially a Ministerial reshuffle before the end of the year so it’s not over yet however the PM will make it though until Christmas.