Candidates’ wait goes on as Patten faces challenge from Somyurek

Labor is ahead in five lower house seats that are still in doubt after Saturday’s state election, while in the upper house the Reason Party’s Fiona Patten is at risk of losing her seat to ousted Labor MP Adem Somyurek.

Counting resumed on Tuesday to determine the final make-up of the 60th parliament, as the Victorian Electoral Commission sorts through absent, postal and pre-poll votes to finalise the winners in seven seats.

Fiona Patten, bottom right, listens to Adem Somyurek speaking in the upper house in 2020.Credit: Jason South

Labor is ahead in Preston, Pakenham, Northcote, Hastings and Bass, though party strategists believe it is unlikely to win Bass or Pakenham.

Hawthorn and Mornington, which are also being contested by teal candidates, are also too close to call, but early votes are breaking in favour of the Liberal Party.

Patten’s position in the Northern Metropolitan region could be torpedoed by Somyurek, who contested the election for the conservative Democratic Labour Party. Only 40 per cent of the votes have been counted, and the final result could take weeks to declare.

Throughout the campaign Patten said the contest for the final position in the region would be between her and Somyurek and this week said the tally would go down to every vote.

“It will be a nervous wait,” she said on Monday.

Somyurek was sacked from Daniel Andrews’ cabinet and forced to quit the Labor Party in 2020 after The Age and 60 Minutes reported on allegations of branch stacking. Patten has spent the past eight years in the upper house.

Psephologist Dr Kevin Bonham said Somyurek’s position had improved, but at this stage of the count, the broader upper house was likely to deliver a left-leaning crossbench. The Greens and Legalise Cannabis were in strong positions, Bonham said.

Labor is projected to have fewer seats in the Legislative Council and will need to rely on crossbenchers to achieve its agenda.

“We’ll work with that crossbench in good faith,” Andrews said on Tuesday.

He said there was a lot of counting still to be done in close lower house seats, and some candidates would have a nervous wait.

“We’ll just have to wait and see how counting unfolds over the next few days,” Andrews said.

“There are always a few seats at the end of one of these counts that are a bit doubtful one way or the other, and we’ll just see how they firm up over coming days

“It’s a very anxious time for those who are most closely in those fights, but there are pretty encouraging signs in a number of those seats that are doubtful. But we’ll just wait and see how that unfolds.”

Final results in tight races in the lower house are not expected until preferences are distributed from next Monday, once the last postal votes arrive for counting by 6pm Friday.

Labor will have at least 52 members in the 88-seat lower house, a comfortable majority that could end up equal to or stronger than the 55 seats won in the 2018 “Danslide” election.

The Coalition had claimed 25 seats on Tuesday, but could end up with up to 29.

Parliament is likely to sit for one day in December for formalities, once the writs have been returned.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.