Labor’s Craig Farrell returned in Legislative Council seat of Derwent

The winner of the election for the Legislative Council seat of Derwent has been decided, but the outcome in the seat of Windermere remains unknown. LATEST >>

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CRAIG Farrell has been officially declared as the winner of the poll for the Legislative Council division of Derwent.

The Tasmanian Electoral Commission announced the result on Friday after a provisional distribution of preferences was completed.

The Labor MLC, who is also the president of the Legislative Council, won 11,272 votes while Liberal candidate, Derwent Valley Mayor Ben Shaw, received 8952 votes.

Animal Justice Party candidate Ivan Davis received 2026 first preference votes, which were then distributed.

Craig Farrell has been returned as the member for Derwent. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The declaration of the poll ceremony for Derwent is due to conducted on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, there are still three candidates in the race for the division of Windermere.

Liberal Party candidate Nick Duigan, Labor’s Geoff Lyons or independent Will Smith will replace long-serving MLC Ivan Dean, who has chosen to retire.

The likely outcome is unknown, with the distribution of preferences to take place after the end of the postal period on Tuesday.

The election for the division of Mersey was also due to be contested in 2021, but MLC Mike Gaffney was elected unopposed.

Libs edge closer in Clark vote as independents hold on

THE Liberals are firming to win majority government following an update of vote counting in the all-important electorate of Clark.

Two seats remain in doubt in Clark, with the Liberals and Premier Peter Gutwein needing to secure one of them to achieve a 13-seat majority in the House of Assembly.

About 5000 more votes were added to the count on Thursday, with more than 88 per cent of the vote counted.

#Clark postcount updated, c 5000 votes added and both indies down a few tenths of a percent, Greens up slightly. Increases my projected Liberal win margin to about 1000. https://t.co/V5bsBfQPRE#tasvotes#politas

— Kevin Bonham (@kevinbonham) May 6, 2021

Experts have suggested it is likely one Liberal candidate — either Madeleine Ogilvie or Simon Behrakis — and one independent — Kristie Johnston or Sue Hickey — would win a seat.

But it is still possible two independents could be elected after the distribution of preferences.

On his blog, political analyst Kevin Bonham said the update in vote counting in Clark had slightly improved the Liberals’ position.

Greens leader Cassy O’Connor (9269 first preference votes), Liberal Elise Archer (9263 first preferences) and Labor’s Ella Haddad (7873) have been re-elected.

Meanwhile, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission says more than 30,000 electors voted outside their home division in this year’s state poll, representing a 30 per cent increase on the 2018 election.