Cunningham vote: Alison Byrnes retains seat for Labor

Longtime Labor staffer Alison Byrnes has held onto the safe seat of Cunningham.

Labor has retained the safe northern Illawarra seat of Cunningham despite a sizable swing against the party.

Alison Byrnes, the longtime staffer of the outgoing MP Sharon Bird, is polling around 39 per cent of vote with 40 per cent of the vote counted – a 7.7 per cent swing against Labor from 2019.

Many of those votes seem to have gone to the Greens with Dylan Green picking up nearly a quarter of the vote with the left-wing party achieving an 8.5 per cent swing in their favour.

Marcus Uren, the Liberal candidate who lives in south west Sydney, has had a 7.1 per cent swing against the party.

Alison Byrnes at the Labor Party function in Figtree on election night. Picture: Supplied

“It was amazing walking into the room and seeing heaps of our supporters,” Ms Byrnes said.

“They have worked through Covid, in the wind and in torrential rain to support me.

“It was simply overwhelming to walk into the room and see them cheering.”

Ms Byrnes hinted that the current swing against Labor was due to the retirement of Ms Bird who was first elected to the seat in 2004.

Alison Byrnes at Wollongong Public School on Election Day morning. Picture: Dylan Arvela

“We’ve still got 38000 to vote,” she said.

“But obviously it was big shoes to fill as a first time candidate coming in behind Sharon Bird.

“We will see how it goes over the next few hours.”