Pauline Hanson at risk of losing Senate seat, LNP pessimistic on Ryan

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is in a tight race for her seat in the Senate and the LNP has lost hope of retaining Ryan as vote counting continues.

The vote count in Ryan tightened up as voting continued on Tuesday, but the LNP remains pessimistic about its chances in the seat, which is likely to be won by the Greens.

The lead changed throughout the day as the Australian Electorate Commission continued the preference distribution between the LNP incumbent Julian Simmonds and Greens candidate Elizabeth Watson-Brown.

But LNP insiders are not hopeful about Mr Simmonds’ chances of being able to retain his electorate.

Mr Simmonds is yet to formally concede defeat, even though Ms Watson-Brown has declared victory.

If the Greens do win, it will only be the second time the seat has been held by a non-Coalition party since it was created in 1949.

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard on the campaign trail with LNP incumbent for Ryan Julian Simmonds. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

Labor won it in the March 2001 by-election, but it returned to the Liberal Party eight months later at the ­general election.

Counting also continues in the seat of Brisbane, where incumbent LNP MP Trevor Evans has conceded defeat.

The race for the electorate is coming down to a tight contest between Labor’s candidate Madonna Jarrett and the Greens’ Stephen Bates.

Labor remains just fractionally ahead on first preferences, 27.9 per cent to the Greens’ 27.8 per cent.

But Labor was relatively confident it would be able to edge out the Greens.

Meanwhile, controversial One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson is at risk of losing her seat in the Senate as vote counting continues.

Pauline Hanson could lose her Senate seat. Picture: Steve Pohlner

The outspoken MP is in a tight race with the Legalise Cannabis Australia Party candidate Bernard Bradley.

The conservative Queensland senator contracted Covid-19 during the final week of the election, forcing her to campaign from her southeast Queensland home.

One Nation has amassed 117,009 of the counted votes while the Legalise Cannabis Australia Party has received 91,876 votes, with a 4.2 per cent swing.

Originally published as Pauline Hanson at risk of losing Senate seat, LNP pessimistic on Ryan