Bayside Council elects new mayor, deputy mayor

Labor will hold the reins of power on a southern Sydney council for another four years after a deal between the major parties collapsed, freezing the Liberals out of any leadership positions.

Labor councillor Edward McDougall and Peaceful Bayside councillor Heidi Lee Douglas were elected mayor and deputy mayor. Picture: Facebook

Labor will hold the reins of power in southern Sydney for another two years after a deal between the major parties collapsed, freezing the Liberals out of council leadership positions in favour of a third party.

The lines were drawn when the newly-elected Bayside Council voted on the positions of mayor and deputy mayor at the inaugural council meeting on Wednesday night.

Returning Labor councillor Edward McDougall was elected mayor while Peaceful Bayside’s Heidi Lee Douglas took deputy mayor nine votes to six, following weeks of speculation about potential power-sharing arrangements.

In the lead up to the vote, insiders close to the council said Labor and the Liberals were in talks to form a rare majority with plans to split the mayoralty across the next four years.

However, both parties reportedly wanted to be mayor first, raising suspicions about a possible “betrayal” if either party failed to uphold its end of the deal.

Labor councillor Edward McDougall was elected as mayor.

Peaceful Bayside councillor Heidi Lee Douglas was elected deputy mayor.

This masthead understands the rift led both parties to approach Peaceful Bayside instead after the local progressive party secured two spots on council.

Reports Labor offered Peaceful Bayside the position of deputy mayor in return for supporting their mayoralty were all but confirmed by the election results.

Bayside Liberal team leader Michael Nagi said his team also made Peaceful Bayside an offer after the major party alliance fell apart.

“Labor wanted mayoralty for four years and I wouldn’t accept the (position of) deputy mayor, we wanted to be first up,” Mr Nagi said.

“Labor didn’t want to give us the mayoralty … so I [offered Peaceful Bayside] the mayoralty for the first two years.

“Ms Douglas was very surprised we offered her the mayoralty but she still rejected it and went with Labor.”

Ms Douglas congratulated Mr McDougall and the new “fresh visionary leadership for Bayside Council” in a statement shared to social media on Wednesday night.

The Bayside Liberal team will not hold any leadership positions on the council for the next four years.

The election marks the rise of Peaceful Bayside in local politics with the chamber to be made up of six Labor councillors, five Liberals, a Greens, an independent and two members of the party.

The previous council was made up of seven Labor councillors, seven independents and one Greens councillor with former Labor mayor Bill Saravinovski at the helm alongside fellow party member Joe Awada as deputy.

Despite securing five seats after not running in the last election, the votes mean there will be no Liberals in leadership positions once again.

Mr McDougall and Ms Douglas will now hold the titles of mayor and deputy mayor for at least two years until late 2026.

Ms Douglas told this masthead that this didn’t mean her party would blindly follow Labor, after “carefully” considering both major parties’ “visions for the mayoralty and their approach to delivering on that vision”.

“We based our support on who best aligned with our Peaceful Bayside objectives,” she said.

“Support for the mayoralty does not bind us to any other vote in the council term, nor does it bind who we will support at the next mayoral election in two years. We will work with all councillors, putting political background aside, to deliver the best outcomes for our community.”