Gladys Berejiklian: Willoughby voters set for Super Saturday

Gladys Berejiklian has yet to formally submit her resignation one week after standing down from the state’s top job as speculation grows over a possible ‘Super Saturday’ for Willoughby voters.

Gladys Berejiklian has yet to formally submit her resignation one week after standing down from the state’s top job as speculation grows over possible dates for a by-election in the north shore electorate.

Voters in the 54,000-resident seat of Willoughby will soon head to the polls to elect a new state representative after Ms Berejiklian's shock resignation announcement last week triggered a by-election.

Ms Berejiklian has held the seat since 2003 when she was narrowly elected by 144 votes against a challenge from the former Willoughby Mayor Pat Reilly.

Gladys Berejiklian pictured at her office in Northbridge on Wednesday.

Since then, the seat has become one of the safest seats for the NSW Liberal Party with Ms Berejiklian comfortably returned at the last election in 2019 on a 21 per cent margin.

The process for holding a by-election will commence when Ms Berejiklian formally submits her resignation to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Jonathan O'Dea, thereby resigning as the Member for Willoughby.

Mr O'Dea on Friday told the North Shore Times Ms Berejiklian has not yet tendered her written resignation – nor has Andrew Constance or John Barilaro, who have also resigned in the last week.

The Willoughby electoral office has been flooded with tributes.

Mr O'Dea said he had “no indication as to when those resignations would occur.”

In a statement last Friday, Ms Berejiklian said she would resign from the NSW Parliament after consulting with the electoral commission on “appropriate timing for a by-election given the Covid.”

Once a written resignation is lodged, Mr O'Dea will consult with the NSW Electoral Commission before issuing the writs for a by-election.

Interested candidates will then be able to throw their hats in the ring and the NSW Liberal Party, in parallel to this, will open nominations for candidates.

Depending how many nominations are received, party members will then vote on a preferred candidate to run for the by-election.

Ms Berejiklian pictured at Northbridge on Wednesday.

There is speculation the by-election could occur on the same day of the December 4 council elections in what could become a “Super Saturday” at the polls for local voters.

The North Shore Times understands the NSW Electoral Commission would have to weigh up various pros and cons of coinciding the two elections.

Benefits include a requirement for local voters to only head to polling booths once, but on the flip side, holding the elections on the same day could cause confusion with voters who would be issued with two separate ballots.

The NSW Electoral Commission would have to undertake an education campaign on how to vote for each tier of government.

No Liberal candidates have come forward in Willoughby to date, however it is understood names could begin to surface within the next fortnight.

The seat has only been won by Labor twice in the past 127 years.

By-elections are also due be held in Monaro and Bega following the resignations of John Barilaro and Andrew Constance in the last week.

Willoughby is the safest of the three seats with Bega sitting on a 6.9 per cent margin for the Liberals and Monaro on 11.6 per cent for the Nationals.