NSW Election: NSW Liberals hold Ryde after recount over 50 vote margin

Former Ryde mayor Jordan Lane will join the NSW parliament as it’s newest MP after a recount confirmed he’d won the northwest Sydney electorate on a razor-thin margin.

The last seat left in doubt following the NSW election three weeks ago will be held by the state Liberal Party following a recount.

The Liberal’s Jordan Lane, former mayor of the City of Ryde, has officially been declared the State’s newest MP.

A recount was ordered after it became evident that there was a minuscule margin between the two parties.

Its understood the recount, which began about 8.30am on Saturday, concluded shortly after 5pm the same evening with a slight increase of Mr Lane’s lead over his Labor counterpart.

Mr Lane had been just 50 votes ahead of Labor’s Lyndal Howison after the first count concluded.

Liberal for Ryde candidate Jordan Lane was ahead by 50 votes at the end of the last count. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Howison requested a recount of the electorate’s 61,000 voters, following a 8.9 per cent swing to Labor on election night.

On Thursday, NSW Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt agreed, saying he was satisfied the “very small margin” meant it was appropriate to recount before the final results were declared.

“I am satisfied there are factors relevant to this particular election that mean a recount is appropriate before proceeding to declare the final results,” he said.

“No such errors have been identified but I consider a recount in this case would support the objects of the Electoral Act, including facilitating the fair and transparent conduct of elections in New South Wales.”

Ms Howison said in a statement that the 0.05 per cent margin indicated how important each vote was for the democratic process.

“That’s why it’s in everyone’s interests for the result in Ryde to be clear and definitive,” she said.

“Once again, I want to express my gratitude and thanks for all the beautiful messages of support during this rollercoaster of a few weeks.”

Mr Lane claimed the seat two weeks after the election, saying the number of postal votes had led to delays in the counting process.

“It was a close election, meaning small shifts in the trend of uncounted votes could have tipped the balance one way or another,” he said.

“It can be too hard to accurately predict the result until all votes are counted.”

The NSW Electoral Commission confirmed the recount began on Saturday morning with volunteers scheduled to continue the counting process until 10.30pm.

Ms Howison said the recount would ensure the results are “clear and definitive”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

In the previous count, the Liberal candidate held 25,425 votes – or 50.05 per cent – while Ms Howison received 25,375 votes – a 49.95 per cent share.

Mr Lane, who was elected mayor for the City of Ryde in 2022, was preselected to contest the seat after senior Liberal cabinet minister Victor Dominello retired from parliament.

NSW Labor will remain two seats short of the 47 required to form a majority.

The Liberal Party will hold 36 seats, while there are nine independents and three Green MPs making up the balance of the lower house.