The ALP candidate, Ann Corcoran, has won today’s by-election for the House of Representatives electorate of Isaacs, securing a 7.75% swing on the primary vote.
Corcoran has won 66% of the two-party-preferred vote, compared to 56.40% achieved by the ALP in 1998, a swing of 9.6%.
A 10% swing is a sizable swing, more than double the average swing against governments in by-elections. However, given that the Liberal Party did not field a candidate, caution should be adopted in interpreting the result.
Nevertheless, the increase in the ALP’s primary vote, combined with one-quarter of the electorate supporting the Democrats or Greens, is indicative of an ongoing trend against the government in line with opinion polls over the past 18 months.
Isaacs was formerly held by Labor’s Greg Wilton. Mr. Wilton committed suicide in June.
| Isaacs By-Election 12-8-00 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | % |
| BROOK, Patricia | Australia First | 5.07 |
| FLETCHER, Haydn | Democrats | 17.94 |
| HUTCHISON, Mary | Greens | 9.61 |
| KING, Gail | DLP | 2.85 |
| WESLEY, Carl | Independent | 8.34 |
| CORCORAN, Ann | ALP | 56.18 |
|
Two-Party-Preferred
|
||
|
ALP
|
66.00
|
|
|
Democrats
|
34.00
|
|
