Victorian voters head to polls in closely watched Werribee, Prahran by-elections

Early results in Victoria’s double by-elections indicate a neck-and-neck race to decide who wins each seat.

The count remains tight in both the Werribee and Prahran by-elections, with preferences set to play a key role in working out who wins each seat.

The election has been tipped to serve as a litmus test for both the state and federal Labor governments, as well as the election prospects of the Liberal Party in Victoria.

Labor supporters hold concerns the Party could lose the seat of Werribee for the first time since 1979 to the Liberal Party with Sky News reporting senior Labor members have conceded today’s by-election will be a “tight contest”.

Polls closed at 6pm with the counting expected to be completed by 11pm on Saturday.

Premier Jacinta Allan was campaigning with with Labor candidate John Lister at Manor Lakes College. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

As of 9.30pm with about a third of votes counted for Werribee, Labor’s John Lister holds a margin of 2.33 per cent in first preferences over over Liberal candidate Steve Murphy.

Mr Lister has 29.16 per cent of the vote, compared with Mr Murphy’s 26.83 and Independent Paul Hopper’s 13.34.

Over in Prahran, Liberal Rachel Westaway has a slight margin over the Greens’ Angelica Di Camillo with 60.4 per cent of the vote counted.

Ms Westaway holds 36.24 per cent of first preference votes, compared to Ms Di Camillo’s 36.19 and Independent Tony Lupton with 12.84.

Labor is on paper still the favourite to hold onto the Werribee but recently announced more than $400m worth of road projects in the seat as it tries to hold on.

The vote takes place on Saturday after former treasurer Tim Pallas resigned from parliament following 18 years in state politics.

At the last election, Mr Pallas won the seat by a nearly 11 per cent margin.

But heading into the election, the popularity of the Labor government and Premier Jacinta Allen is falling.

Labor’s candidate for the seat is local teacher John Lister, who lives in the area.

Labor candidate John Lister is for the long held Labor seat of Werribee, with the party describing him as a “true local”. Picture supplied.

When the party announced his candidacy on social media, Labor described Mr Lister as a “true local”.

“He grew up in Werribee and is building his life there with his partner, Mary,” the party said.

“He’s running for the same reason he became a teacher: to make a difference.”

On Friday, after pre-polling Mr Lister said he would have the advantage of working within the government when advocating for the needs of the community.

“There’s a lot of noise around this by-election, and I think it’s ­really important to look for someone like me who has grown up here and lives here and wants to give back everything that this town, this community, has given me, and give my all as their member of parliament,” Mr Lister said.

Liberal leader Brad Battin came out in support of candidate Steve Murphy : Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Liberal candidate Steve Murphy urged the community to vote for him as he runs on cost-of-living pressures, tackling crime and improving local infrastructure.

“Vote Liberal to get change in Werribee,” Mr Murphy said.

“People are sick of being stuck in traffic for one and a half hours to do a trip that shouldn’t take even half that long.

“The lack of infrastructure, the road networks here have been totally neglected and people are upset about it.”

Opposition Leader Brad Battin conceded on Saturday that flipping the seat of Werribee would be difficult.

“I’m not going to predict how people are going to vote, as I’ve said quite publicly, the change of seat during a by-election is always difficult,” he said.

Voters in the Greens-held seat of Prahran also vote on Saturday in a head-to-head contest with Labor.

The Labor Party did not field a candidate, with Rachel Westaway running for the Liberal Party.

The Greens have a buffer of around 11 per cent, but without Labor running the preference flows could potentially push the Liberals to power.

Originally published as Victorian voters head to polls in closely watched Werribee, Prahran by-elections