NSW council election results 2024 as it happened: Counting concludes; Clover Moore claims victory in City of Sydney

That’s where we’ll leave our coverage of the 2024 NSW local council elections for the evening.

Thanks so much for your company as we watched Clover Moore return to victory in the City of Sydney. Before we say goodbye, here are some of the key takeaways from what was a fascinating night of polling:

• City of Sydney: Clover Moore will serve an unprecedented sixth term as Sydney lord mayor, claiming victory on Saturday night with 37 per cent of the vote.

• Inner West: Labor is leading in four out of five wards, appearing to have staved off a serious challenge from the Greens to capture their majority on council. Mayor Darcy Byrne has won a huge 45 per cent of his ward.

Inner West mayor Darcy Bryne celebrates at the Leichhardt Bowlo.

• Parramatta: The Liberals have enjoyed a significant return to Parramatta Council, where no endorsed candidates ran in the 2021 poll. Early results indicate they could field at least one candidate in each ward, meaning the balance of power could be left to independent councillors.

• North Sydney: Mayor Zoe Baker has shot out to an early lead in the St Leonards ward, while Liberal candidate Jessica Keen is in a strong position in the Cammeraygal ward.

• Randwick: The Greens have taken a hit in Randwick, where their ticket ranks last on each of the five wards. The slide could see Mayor Philipa Veitch knocked off from her spot on the top job.

• Liverpool: Incumbent Liberal mayor Ned Mannoun leads the mayoral race with 44 per cent of the total vote. The new council faces a months-long public inquiry after a July report made a series of misconduct allegations. Mannoun has called the erroneous and politically motivated.

• Mosman: Ann Marie-Kimber is on track to be Mosman’s next mayor, after amassing 49 per cent of the mayoral vote. Kimber is the Serving Mosman mayoral candidate, and was endorsed by outgoing mayor Carolyn Corrigan.

• Byron Shire: Mayor Michael Lyon is sitting last in the council’s mayoralty election, with over 17,000 votes counted. Weeks ago, Lyon was identified as the man charged with common assault and intimidation after an incident with a woman known to him. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Greens deputy mayor Sarah Ndiaye is in the lead.

Counting will resume on Monday. Good night.

In 45 years of contesting elections, Clover Moore has never lost one – or even looked like losing one. That was true again on Saturday.

By 8pm, it was clear that while Moore’s vote was going backwards, it was still high enough to ensure she would retain the job she has held – without being seriously challenged – for the past 20 years.

No one seriously thought Moore would be in trouble. Even if there was a sense among some voters that two decades is a long time for anyone to be in power, there was no clear alternative who they could embrace with certainty and enthusiasm.

At its most simple, Moore offers dependable, progressive, independent leadership that is free of scandals and corruption. For most City of Sydney residents, that’s enough.

However, voters may test Moore – and check her power – by robbing her of the council majority she has enjoyed for 20 years. Early results this evening showed the Greens and Labor polling well at council level.

Read the full analysis here.

In Parramatta, the Liberal Party has pulled off a huge return to the council after the party abandoned it at the last local government election.

By late this evening, it became clear the Liberals would install at least one candidate in each ward, potentially evenly splitting the council between Liberal and Labor, putting the balance of power in the hands of minor parties.

Lead candidate Steven Issa, exhausted and drinking scotch at home with his extended family, said he was encouraged by the results.

Liberal Parramatta candidate Steven Issa.Credit: LinkedIn

“I think the Liberals have a lot to offer Parramatta ... it’s what we were expecting,” he said.

But he cautioned against getting too comfortable in the results, with a huge amount of pre-poll and postal votes yet to be counted: “It’s going to be a long week.”

“It’s not a definite. We’ll probably get six up, the Labor Party might get five or six,” he said of the 15-person council. “Then it’s going to come down to the others.”

The huge result for the Liberals and the likely return of Labor and Community Champion candidate Kellie Darley means it’s highly unlikely conservative Our Local Community candidate Michelle Garrard will be re-elected.

And with some encouraging results from independents and Greens candidates, the council could still lean progressive even as the Liberals install councillors in each ward.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has hit out at a “weird” and “nasty” election campaign after claiming victory just minutes ago, saying her rivals had nothing substantial to offer.

Moore had nine challengers in the lord mayoral race, including Labor, the Greens, the Liberals and independent Yvonne Weldon, but Moore was clearly ahead with about 37 per cent of first preferences.

Clover Moore celebrates another term as Sydney lord mayor at her election party at the ArtHouse Hotel on Saturday night.Credit: Janie Barrett

She said it was a more aggressive campaign than usual and she was underwhelmed by her opponents.

“I didn’t think any of the other candidates had anything to offer. They said we need a change and fresh ideas. I listened very carefully to hear what the fresh ideas were and there weren’t any,” Moore said.

“There was a sense of real desperation about trying to get me out of Town Hall. That was expressed in the candidates’ forums, which I think were pretty nasty.

“No one really talked about fresh ideas or new policy, they just were attacking me. It was a pretty weird campaign actually.”

And as we hit 10pm, electoral workers across the state are stopping the count for the evening.

No counting will be done on Sunday, but they’ll return first thing on Monday.

There’s a huge amount of work to be done: counting tonight has only looked at first preferences, and in many tight races, it’s the later preferences that will decide the final makeup of some councils.

Clover Moore has claimed victory and will serve an unprecedented sixth term as lord mayor of Sydney.

She arrived at her post-election event just before 9.30pm and did not immediately tell supporters she had won.

Clover Moore at her post-election function at the Arthouse Hotel.Credit: Janie Barrett

But later she told the Herald it was clear that based on preference flows from previous elections she would secure enough votes to hold on to the mayoralty.

She said Chinatown and Oxford Street, affordable housing and action on climate change would be among her priorities for her sixth term.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore with her party candidates and state independent MP Alex Greenwich.Credit: Janie Barrett

Clover Moore has arrived at her post-election function to chants of “four more years” (or is that “four Moore years”?) from the 200-strong crowd.

She did not claim victory, though she enjoys a commanding lead in the lord mayoral race, saying there was still more counting to do.

“We don’t know the final outcome ... but I’m told that I’m winning every booth,” she said.

Moore said it had been a tough election with a concerted campaign by some media outlets to oust her as lord mayor after 20 years.

She thanked her army of volunteers and the community of Sydney for their support.

With more than 6,000 votes counted in Liverpool, incumbent Liberal mayor Ned Mannoun has 44 per cent of the vote, ahead of Labor’s Betty Green on 24 per cent.

There are eight other candidates polling single digits or less.

The new council faces a months-long public inquiry after a report released in mid-July detailed a list of serious allegations of misconduct, described by local government minister Ron Hoenig recently as “the worst I’ve seen of any council”. Mannoun dismissed the report as full of errors and politically motivated.

North Sydney mayor Zoe Baker has taken an early lead in the council’s St Leonards ward, where there is a dearth of Liberal candidates due to the party’s nominations debacle.

Baker, of the Real Independents, has 45 per cent of the councillor vote with 1300 ballots counted. She’s followed by Labor’s Godfrey Santer on 22.4 per cent and independent James Spenceley on 21.5 per cent. The area takes in about 49,000 voters.

Zoe Baker has taken an early lead in her ward’s voting.Credit: Oscar Colman

In the Cammeraygal ward, endorsed Liberal candidate Jessica Keen is in front with 31.4 per cent of 900 votes counted. Real Independents candidate MaryAnn Beregi has 18.1 per cent of the votes.

The Greens’ Angus Hoy and Labor’s Shannon Welch are neck-and-neck – both have 17 per cent of votes.

Independent Pallavi Sinha, who is a Liberal Party member, has secured 4.74 per cent of votes. Controversial former mayor and outgoing councillor Jilly Gibson campaigned for Sinha, who led a group of independents who touted themselves on social media as Team Jilly.

Randwick Mayor Philipa Veitch is currently coming in last.Credit: Peter Rae

The Greens ticket in each ward of Randwick Council is currently polling last, threatening a slide that could see Mayor Philipa Veitch dislodged from the top job.

Veitch, who previously served as deputy mayor, is on the west ward that has attracted 27 per cent of the 6,393 votes counted so far. The Liberals lead this ward with 40 per cent of the vote.

The Liberals and Labor are neck and neck in Randwick’s east, south and north wards, where independent votes are also polling well.

Randwick was one of several councils targeted by an anti-Greens campaign over Greens councillors’ comments and actions relating to the war in Gaza.