NSW council elections 2024: Live results, updates and latest news
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore will continue her reign over the Harbour City after being re-elected for a historic sixth term. It comes as a huge informal ‘protest’ vote has dominated several councils.
Angry Liberal supporters turning up to council elections with no conservative candidates ended up trashing their ballot papers with record numbers of informal votes recorded on election day.
And while Sydney’s independent Lord Mayor Clover Moore claimed victory after snatching a historic sixth term, she is set to lose her majority with three rather than five councillors being elected.
Ms Moore took to social media around midnight to thank voters.
“Thank you, Sydney! I am grateful for your support, and excited about continuing the work to ensure our city is the best place to live, work in and visit,” she posted.
The day brought mixed results for both major parties while the Greens were being punished in Woollahra and Waverley in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
On the northern beaches, up to one quarter of votes lodged were informal, with the lack of Liberal councillors blamed for the record high.
The absence of Liberals was also attributed to the Greens looking to double their number from two to four councillors, while the Your Northern Beaches Independents were on track to increase their number from five to seven.
The lack of Liberal candidates on one ward in Penrith resulted in all five Labor candidates being elected.
Down in Sutherland, the Liberals were set to gain a majority despite the controversial dumping of the mayor and deputy mayor, both of whom ran as independents.
In Parramatta, the Liberals were also out-polling Labor while the party was experiencing a landslide in the Hills – a council where candidates were previously rolled by the party in 2021.
The Liberals were also set to retain the Ryde and Canada Bay mayoralty.
Up in Byron, independent Mayor Michael Lyon was set to be defeated with Labor to take his place. Mr Lyon, who is currently embroiled in domestic violence allegations, said he was feeling defeated over early polling results.
Mr Lyon is accused of assaulting his wife Susan Lyon at their home on August 1. He is expected to fight the charge.
“It’s an absolute disaster for me at the moment,” he said.
“To be honest, my initial results are so bad that I’m not sure I’ll even get on council this time around, let alone mayor. The results have been pretty poor so far but not wholly unexpected.”
Over at Ku-ring-gai Council – which has waged a war against the Minns government housing reforms – Mayor Sam Ngai declared development to have been the “single biggest issue for voters” at north shore polling booths.
“About 80 per cent of people who talked to me had concerns about the six-storey uniformed approach the government is taking,” he said.
Sydney’s most popular mayors are independent Frank Carbone – who comfortably retained the top job at Fairfield with almost 80 per cent – and “pro-housing” Burwood Labor Mayor John Faker who was far behind.
In Liverpool, Mayor Ned Mannoun was ahead with more than 40 per cent over the vote last night.
The lead-up to the NSW council elections saw a catastrophic failure from the NSW Liberal Party, which failed to nominate almost 140 candidates by deadline set by the NSW Electoral Commission.
Counting will resume on Monday, however the NSW Electoral Commission has advised official results would not be declared until October.
Originally published as NSW council elections 2024: Live results, updates and latest news
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