‘Silent killer’: Liberal candidate Andrew Constance’s shock health scare before campaign

A Liberal candidate has conceded defeat in his seat, slamming the party for their failed messaging while revealing a shock health update.

Liberal candidate for Gilmore Andrew Constance has conceded defeat, and revealed a major health scare he experienced in the months leading up to the election campaign.

The former NSW transport minister conceded defeat of the NSW south coast seat, reaching 45.1 per cent of the vote.

He was beat out by Labor candidate Fiona Phillips, who secured a victory with 54.9 per cent of the votes.

Former NSW transport minister conceded defeat in the election. Picture: NewsWire / Dylan Coker

While Mr Constance said he would only concede defeat once the pre-poll votes had been counted, on Tuesday he reflected on the Coalition’s election campaign, particularly on its work-from-home stance and “telling the world we’re going to sack 41,000 people”.

“To be honest, we probably looked a little mean,” he told reporters.

Identifying as a moderate-progressive candidate, Mr Constance criticised the Liberal Party’s stance on the climate and argued they should be a “a pro-environment party”.

He also slammed the party’s failure to appeal to female voters, saying they had “let the women of Australia down, quite frankly”.

“We have a lot of work to do to re-engage the aspirations of young people, and women in particular,” he said.

The Liberal candidate gave a shock health update. Picture: Newswire / Gaye Gerard – POOL via NCA Newswire

The lead-up to the election was particularly difficult for the Liberal candidate, who candidly revealed a major health scare before in the months leading up to his campaign.

In August 2024, Mr Constance suffered a heart attack and underwent a coronary artery bypass graft, with the operation taking its toll during the campaign period.

“I had three blocked arteries, one at 99 per cent, one at 70 per cent, one at 40 per cent,” he said per the ABC.

The health scare was “really scary” for the politician, and felt “incredibly fatigued” in the three months leading up to his cardiac arrest.

He urged the public to be aware of the signs of heart attacks, and “look after your health”.

“I am using today to say it clearly … there’s too many people walking around with a silent killer in their body without knowing,” he said.