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A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Ryde on 18 October 2008 to coincide with the Port Macquarie, Lakemba and Cabramatta by-elections. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of sitting member and Deputy Premier John Watkins, who cited exhaustion and the lack of time spent with his family for his resignation. Watkins resigned from parliament and his portfolio of Minister for Transport on 8 September 2008, prompting a Cabinet reshuffle.
The by-election was won by Liberal candidate Victor Dominello on a swing of 23 percent. This was a marked turnaround to the result at the 2007 state election, when Labor won the seat with 60.09% of the two-party preferred vote. However, the writ was dropped for this contest at a very bad time for the government; it had been sinking in the polls only a year after being reelected. Dominello's victory turned Ryde from a safe Labor seat into a safe Liberal seat in one stroke, and proved to be a harbinger of Labor's massive defeat in the 2011 state election. At the time, it was the largest swing against a sitting government in New South Wales history; it has since been outdone by the 2010 Penrith by-election (which saw a 25 percent swing against Labor) and the 2013 Miranda by-election (which saw a 26 percent swing against the Coalition).
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Victor Dominello | 21,370 | 54.34 | +25.74 | |
| Labor | Nicole Campbell | 11,725 | 29.81 | −15.03 | |
| Greens | Lindsay Peters | 4,407 | 11.21 | +3.34 | |
| Independent | Victor Taffa | 1,171 | 2.98 | +2.98 | |
| Democrats | Peter Goldfinch | 656 | 1.67 | +0.27 | |
| Total formal votes | 39,329 | 97.96 | +0.53 | ||
| Informal votes | 820 | 2.04 | −0.53 | ||
| Turnout | 40,149 | 83.64 | −9.33 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Victor Dominello | 22,556 | 63.01 | +23.10 | |
| Labor | Nicole Campbell | 13,243 | 36.99 | −23.10 | |
| Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | +23.10 | |||
References
- "Liberals 'a big chance' in Watkins' seat". ABC News. 2008-09-04. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- Smith, Alexandra (2008-09-03). "Watkins quits politics to put family first". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - "2007 State Election Results: State Electoral District of RYDE". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- 2008 Ryde By-election Results