Geelong gives Lyons hope as Labor edges Greens in inner-city seat

FORMER paparazzi king Darryn Lyons has established a foothold in his bid to win Geelong and shake up State Parliament, according to an exclusive new poll.

FORMER paparazzi king Darryn Lyons has established a foothold in his bid to win Geelong and shake up State Parliament, according to an exclusive new poll.

The Herald Sun/ YouGov Galaxy poll shows Lyons has secured 15 per cent of the vote since announcing his candidacy a few weeks ago.

Darryn Lyons.

But he is still well behind Labor’s Christine Couzens, who is on 40 per cent, meaning he will have to run a mammoth campaign in his pink bus in the final two weeks to have a chance.

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The Herald Sun can reveal that Labor is also in a strong position to hold off the Greens in the marginal inner city seat of Richmond, which would reduce the chances of a hung parliament.

Mr Lyons has burst back on to the scene in Geelong, after he declared he wanted to break the hold of the major parties in the second-biggest city in Victoria.

He is still behind the Liberal candidate who holds 28 per cent of voter support, according to the poll of 500 voters done on the weekend, giving Ms Couzens on a comfortable 6 per cent two-party margin.

The poll shows a policy to build a new cruise ship terminal in Geelong — something Mr Lyons backed at Geelong council before he was sacked by the Andrews Government over bullying allegations — is supported by a majority of voters.

YouGov Galaxy managing director David Briggs said Mr Lyons “looks set to play a significant role in the seat of Geelong” but at the moment the “big loser is Liberal Party candidate, Freya Fidge”.

In Richmond, polling shows Planning Minister Richard Wynne is at a primary vote of 49 per cent, a separate poll of about 500 voters shows.

Lyons cap pic for 2nd

The Liberal Party chose not to stand a candidate in Richmond.

The left-wing party aims to snatch Richmond and Brunswick from Labor and hold the balance of power in state parliament, if it can hold its current three lower house seats.

Greens support in Richmond is at 42 per cent, with Mr Wynne ahead 54 to 46 per cent on a two party-preferred basis.

On the question of whether enough was being done to tackle congestion in the inner city, 41 per cent agreed, but 42 per cent said it should be a priority to do more.

YouGov Galaxy managing director David Briggs said without significant leakage of votes to other parties traditional Liberal voters were splitting equally between the Labor and Green candidates.

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