Campaign insiders say they could have unseated former premier Dominic Perrottet in his electorate of Epping

Proud but disappointed campaign insiders believe they could have booted the then-premier from his seat, blaming Labor headquarters for the lost opportunity.

Proud but disappointed Labor campaign insiders believe they could have booted Dominic Perrottet from his safe seat if they had been given more time to campaign and resources to take on the then premier.

Mr Perrottet’s northwestern Sydney electorate Epping was a very safe Liberal seat, with a healthy margin of 11.3 per cent before last Saturday’s NSW state election.

Although Mr Perrottet retained his seat, Labor candidate Alan Mascarenhas came close with a 6.9 per cent swing to the ALP and a 5.3 swing against the former premier.

Labor campaign insiders battling against Dominic Perrottet’s electorate of Epping believe they could won the seat with more support. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

A source close to the local campaign told NCA NewsWire there were a number of factors that played to Labor’s advantage, including animosity from Liberal stalwarts and the electorate gaining Labor-leaning suburbs in the 2021 redistribution.

“A number of lifelong, rusted-on Liberals were really unhappy with Dominic Perrottet because he was never in the electorate in the four years he was there,” they said.

“He had three elections in three difference electorates (Castle Hill, Hawkesbury and Epping), and then didn’t appear to maintain a presence.”

Internal polling run by the campaign also indicated Epping was in play. Mr Perrottet’s campaign was also slow to bring out campaign corflutes and posters, which could have given Labor a rare chance to claim the seat, the campaign insider said.

“Epping in itself was never going to go wholeheartedly towards Labor but there were enough groups who were disenchanted,” they said.

Former journalist Alan Mascarenhas believes Labor has the potential to claim Epping in future elections. Picture: Supplied/ NCA NewsWire

Ultimately, they believed Labor’s head office “disappointingly” chose not to the capitalise on the opportunity.

“We were expecting to have started a bit earlier and have had more support than we got but we were very proud of the branch members who had gotten us this far,” the insider said.

“Alan’s opponent was on TV every night. Dom helped get the state through Covid and his profile and personal approval ratings were high. Alan was up against the most famous politician in the state.

“You’d always like more help but the way he played the hand he was was admirable.”

They compared the battle for Epping to the successful Labor campaign in Parramatta, which included several visits from leader Chris Minns.

“If we had had one-tenth of the support Parramatta had, this could have been a different result. Even a little would have gone a long way.

“Head office was aware of the local campaign but they had their own strategy in place.”

NSW Labor declined to comment on the Epping campaign when approached by NCA NewsWire.

Mr Mascarenhas also declined to say whether he could have won the electorate if he was given more than four weeks to campaign, but said there was a “mood for change” within the electorate.

“Parties have to make hard decisions about what seats they can win. It was an honour to be the candidate and you make the best with time, resources and the people that you have,” he said.

“I like to look at it in terms of the upside potential for Labor in this seat.

“If we could achieve about a 7 per cent swing against the premier in such a short time, imagine what we could do if we had full resources, like policy announcements and visits from senior members of the party.”

Mr Mascarenhas said there was a ‘mood for change’ in the electorate. Picture: Supplied/ NCA NewsWire

The former journalist pointed towards to the area’s population growing pains, and said there were suburbs which had been “forgotten” by the former government.

“These are suburbs with overcrowded schools, congested roads and a lack of adequate health and education facilities,” he told NCA NewsWire.

“I was at school pick-up in Carlingford and it was pandemonium on the streets. Residents were trapped in their own suburb because cars were clogging these narrow suburban streets.

“They’re experiencing Parramatta’s growing pains but not receiving the same attention and investment from the government.”

A senior Liberal strategist said Epping’s swing to Labor was “pretty much” the statewide swing, which currently stands at about 6 per cent against the government.

Compared to nearby electorates of Parramatta (14.4 per cent) and Treasure Matt Kean’s seat of Hornsby (11.4 per cent), Epping’s swing was lower.

“(It’s) pretty good for someone who was running around the state trying to save everyone else’s seats,” he said.

A Liberal strategist said Dominic Perrottet’s result was ‘pretty good’ given the outgoing premier’s election commitments. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Commenting on the election overall, he said the fact that the Coalition had managed to fend off a majority Labor government, was a credit to the campaign and Mr Perrottet himself.

He pointed towards the 13.4 per cent swing against Labor during the 2011 NSW state election, in which Labor was booted after 16 years in government.

“There were two things that were against us from the get go: The age of the government, and the retiring ministers,” he said, pointing towards senior MPs including Geoff Lee, Victor Dominello, Brad Hazzard and David Elliott.

“When governments are chucked out, they’re chucked out. It’s a serious swing across all seats, and they get there in much more sizeable swings,” he said.

“In this case, Labor are not even crawling across the line (to a majority government)”.

Originally published as Campaign insiders say they could have unseated former premier Dominic Perrottet in his electorate of Epping