Labor’s grip on power stays firm after sweeping key seats

It’s heartbreak in the heartland for Liberals after Labor extended its lead in key battleground seats while snatching even more in the Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. As the votes continue to be counted, here is a look at some of the big swings.

LABOR has surged into the Liberal Party’s eastern suburbs heartland, leading in more than half a dozen traditionally blue riband seats last night.

Early counting by the Victorian Electoral Commission showed Labor was also on track for strong victories in the critical sandbelt electorates of Frankston, Carrum, Mordialloc and Bentleigh.

Premier Daniel Andrews stormed to power in 2014 by winning all four sandbelt seats from Liberal MPs, and Labor was on Saturday night extending its lead in the electorates while marching into the eastern suburbs.

RE-CAP ELECTION NIGHT HERE

ANALYSIS: LABOR’S BACK-TO-BASICS CAMPAIGN PAYS OFF

Labor supporters celebrate Daniel Andrews’ election victory at The Village Green in Mulgrave, Victoria. Labour supporters celebrate. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Labor candidates were in a strong position to claim Bass, Burwood, Ringwood, Caulfield and Mount Waverley.

Even safe seats like Hawthorn, Sandringham and Box Hill, which have been conservatively held for almost all of their existence, were under threat.

Hawthorn MP John Pesutto conceded it was a long way back for him and said the early swings were “deeply troubling”.

Burwood Liberal MP Graham Watt, who looked likely to lose his seat, said it seemed his party had run a campaign that had not worked.

“There’ll be some soul searching when it comes to how the campaign was run and how we can do better,” Mr Watt said.

Labor managed to fend off the Green tide in Richmond and Brunswick and was likely to retain those seats as of Saturday night.

KNIVES OUT AS LIBERALS TURN ON KEY FIGURE

Daniel Andrews with his family as they arrived on stage at the Village Green in Mulgrave. Picture: Julian Smith, AAP Image.

But hundreds of thousands of votes were still to be counted, meaning it would take some time for winners to be declared in several marginal seats, including the inner-city battleground of Prahran.

Labor MP Paul Edbrooke, who held the government’s most marginal seat of Frankston, said the results were a testament to the party’s hard work listening to their communities and delivering what they wanted.

He took a swipe at the Coalition’s campaign and said its focus on crime did not resonate with voters.

“There’s a stark contrast between listening to your community and delivering in spades, and there’s the other side of the coin where you’re trying to scare people into voting for your party,” Mr Edbrooke said.

In Mordialloc, Labor’s Tim Richardson said he was grateful he had been re-elected.

“I think people have been prepared to give us another chance because people can see things happening in their community,” Mr Richardson said.

The Liberal Party had targeted the growth corridor seat of Cranbourne, but Labor’s Pauline Richard, seeking to replace retiring MP Jude Perera, was expected to extend the party’s margin. The VEC expected to count about 75 per cent of first preferences votes last night.

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