Property Council executive Sally Capp set to be Melbourne’s first female lord mayor in almost 30 years

MELBOURNE looks set to have its first female lord mayor in almost 30 years with Property Council executive Sally Capp expected to win the vote.

Sally Capp is set to be Melbourne’s new lord mayor. Picture: Jason Edwards

PROPERTY Council executive Sally Capp is set to be Melbourne’s new lord mayor.

While the count is still continuing, it is believed that the frontrunner has secured a strong enough preference flow to defeat main rival Jennifer Yang.

Ms Capp is polling around 27.5 per cent of the primary vote, well ahead of Ms Yang on 15.5 per cent and Greens councillor Rohan Leppert with about 13 per cent.

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Ms Yang, who was backed by an unofficial Labor Party campaign, is yet to concede defeat.

However, it is understood that her team believes it is highly unlikely for her to win from this position.

Ms Yang ran a professional and spirited campaign headed by ALP figure Steve Michelson while Ms Capp also had a strong campaign team.

A Capp campaign spokesman would not claim victory.

“We are watching the numbers and are heartened by the primary vote but understand we are up against it on preferences because we didn’t do any backroom deals,” he said.

Sally Capp at her home. Picture: Aaron Francis

Ms Capp will likely be the first woman to be lord mayor in almost 30 years, when Winsome McCaughey held the role when it was not a directly-elected position.

Ms Capp, 50, has had wide experience, including a stint as Victorian Agent-General in London, head of city lobby the Committee of Melbourne and state boss of the Property Council since September 2016.

She is also a former director of the Collingwood Football Club.

Ms Capp, a one-time Liberal Party member, was backed strongly by the business community but also had the solid support of some key ALP figures.

Ms Capp campaigned on getting the $250 million Queen Victoria Market redevelopment back on track, and proposed creating a “high line” elevated park through the CBD involving the covering of rail lines.

The biggest surprise of the campaign was the poor showing of the Greens, with Cr Leppert polling less than 13 per cent compared with the 21 per cent secured by candidate Olivia Ball at the 2016 council election.

A source close to Ms Yang’s campaign said that Labor’s solid result was a continuation of the party’s success against the Greens at the Batman by-election and bode well for the upcoming state and federal polls.

The Victorian Electoral Commission will release the official results once the computer count has been conducted at about 7pm Friday.

The by-election was called after the resignation of Robert Doyle amid a sexual harassment scandal.

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@JMasanauskas