Brisbane blue wall around Bowman fractures as Bonnor, Forde suffer voter backlash

The LNP’s candidate in the bayside seat of Bowman has narrowly held on to his seat despite a brutal Labor challenge, capping a bruising night for the LNP as key seats in Brisbane’s belt flipped red.

The Labor Party’s Darcy Brown, left, ran an 11th-hour campaign with few corflutes throughout the electorate giving incumbent Henry Pike, right, a major challenge and scaling back his margin.

In what will be remembered as a bruising night for the Liberal National Party (LNP) across southeast Queensland, the party appears to have scraped across the line in several outer-metropolitan electorates — but not without incurring significant damage to long-held strongholds.

One of the starkest examples is Bowman, where sitting MP Henry Pike looks to have narrowly retained the seat after a nailbiting count of pre-poll and postal votes.

Despite suffering a 3.68 per cent swing against him, Mr Pike’s performance in key booths such as Cleveland was enough to deliver what insiders are describing as a “bone-thin” victory.

Mr Pike’s primary vote slid from 42 per cent at the last election to an estimated final tally of just under 40 per cent, still outperforming the state average for the LNP, which plummeted to around 34 per cent after early counting, according to The Australian Electoral Commission.

Two party preferred, the LNP recorded 50.5 per cent of the vote in Queensland.

Peter Dutton lost his seat of Dickson but Henry Pike held on to his seat of Bowman. Picture: Contributed

“We had a big win in Cleveland, and that really helped,” Mr Pike said the morning after.

“We’ve still got postals coming in, and they generally trend in my favour, so I think I’ll be right, but it’s definitely been a devastating night more broadly.”

The LNP’s primary vote in Bowman fell, a symbolic rupture in what was once regarded as an invincible conservative belt stretching from the seat of Bowman down through to the seat of Wright and around Brisbane’s outer perimeter.

Mr Pike entered the race with a 5.5 per cent margin, but the close result reflects broader pain for the LNP across the Brisbane metropolitan area, where several seats flipped to Labor in the face of strong swings.

Veteran MPs Ross Vasta lost his seat of Bonner, which borders Bowman to the north and Bert van Manen lost his Forde seat which borders Bowman’s south.

“I didn’t expect Bert or Ross to lose their seats, they are well liked and hardworking,” Mr Pike said.

“I thought Labor was throwing everything at it, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly or with such a large swing.”

Labor’s candidate in Bowman, Darcy Brown, entered the race at the eleventh hour with minimal campaign infrastructure or name recognition but with his name at the top of the ballot.

Newcomer Darcy Brown who had his name listed first on the ballot card. Picture: Contributed

He managed to harness broader dissatisfaction with the LNP brand, giving Mr Pike his most competitive contest to date.

“I think Darcy seems like a good young bloke,” Mr Pike said. “He was put in a tough position and did well under the circumstances. But the result shows this was more of a vote for Labor as a party rather than Darcy as an individual.

“We’ve done better than the swings seen across Greater Brisbane. It’s been tough, but Bowman held up relatively well.”

Mr Pike attributed part of Labor’s success in seats such as Bonner to a well-resourced and targeted campaign, including multiple visits from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“Labor clearly ran a strong ground game in Bonner, and it paid off – but not so much in Bowman,” he said.

While Mr Pike’s position in parliament appears safe, the LNP faces a reckoning in Queensland with his name possibly thrown into the ring to replace Mr van Manen as the Opposition whip.

“I’m proud to be returned, but this isn’t a moment for celebration,” Mr Pike said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to rebuild trust and reconnect with voters across the southeast.”

Labor Party member and former state MP for Capalaba Don Brown said last night’s election was an “extraordinary result for Labor”.

“I also want to acknowledge Darcy Brown for running a strong campaign in a short time frame,” Mr Brown said.

“The result sends a clear message: Henry Pike can no longer take this seat for granted.

“His focus on culture wars and neglect of local concerns has worn thin.

“I hope this serves as a wake-up call for him to step up and truly represent the people of Bowman.”

With the final count still pending, including thousands of postal votes yet to be added, all eyes remain on the Australian Electoral Commission — but for the LNP, the political damage has already been done.

Originally published as Brisbane blue wall around Bowman fractures as Bonnor, Forde suffer voter backlash