Mills still hopeful despite massive losses

AFTER more than twenty years of service to his Palmerston electorate of Blain, Terry Mills has all but lost his seat

AFTER more than 20 years of service to his Palmerston electorate of Blain, former chief minister turned Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills has all but lost his seat.

Mr Mills was still hopeful about the “fluid nature” of the vote count at a party election event last night and didn’t concede defeat but said he could “see quite plainly” he had lost.

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As of late last night, Mr Mills was trailing behind both Labor’s Mark Turner and the CLP’s Matthew Kerle in primary votes with 61.7 per cent of the vote counted.

“I’ve always had the view that when it comes to an election, I rest in the decision made by the electorate,” he said.

Mr Mills denied that Territory Alliance was a “vanity project”.

“It’s not about Terry Mills at all … We actually have a very long view here,” he said.

“I think the response we’ve received is still quite remarkable.”

It’s a major fall from grace for Mr Mills, who first won the seat of Blain in 1999 as a CLP candidate and then again when he decided to run as an independent in 2016.

Blain is still considered too close to call, with just a couple of hundred primary votes between the two frontrunners as of late last night.

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Mr Kerle appeared optimistic at the CLP’s election event last night, saying he believed the issue of crime played a big role in the way voters chose.

“I’m just overwhelmed by the support the people in Blain have shown me tonight,” he said.

Mark Turner didn’t show up to Labor’s election party.