Division of Wentworth

Australian federal electoral division

Wentworth
Division of Wentworth in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created1901
MPAllegra Spender
PartyIndependent
NamesakeWilliam Charles Wentworth
Electors103,709 (2022)
Area38 km2 (14.7 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

The Division of Wentworth is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division encompasses the suburbs to the east of Sydney CBD, mostly Woollahra and Waverley council in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.

History

William Charles Wentworth, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is named after William Charles Wentworth (1790–1872), an Australian explorer and statesman. In 1813 he accompanied Blaxland and Lawson on their crossing of the Blue Mountains. Wentworth was also an advocate of free and representative government in Australia.[1]

Historically considered a safe seat for the Liberal Party of Australia and its predecessors, Wentworth is one of only two original federation divisions in New South Wales, along with the Division of North Sydney, which have never been held by the Australian Labor Party, though Labor candidate Jessie Street came within 1.6 percent of winning Wentworth at the 1943 election landslide. The electorate is the nation's wealthiest, contains the nation's largest Jewish population and contains the nation's fifth-largest number of same-sex couples.[2]

Its most prominent member was Malcolm Turnbull, who served as Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2009 and as Prime Minister of Australia from September 2015 until August 2018. Other prominent members have included Sir Eric Harrison, who was the first Deputy of the Liberal Party; Les Bury and Bob Ellicott, who both served as prolific ministers in successive Liberal governments of the 1960s and 1970s; Peter Coleman, who had served as New South Wales Opposition Leader from 1977 until he lost his seat in the 1978 state election; and John Hewson, who served as Opposition Leader from 1990 to 1994. Like Turnbull after him, Hewson served as federal Liberal leader whilst in his second term as the MP for Wentworth.

In August 2018, a challenge by Peter Dutton led to two Liberal leadership spills. Following the second spill on 24 August 2018, Treasurer Scott Morrison defeated Dutton in a leadership ballot. Turnbull did not nominate as a candidate, and immediately resigned as Prime Minister. On 31 August 2018 Turnbull resigned from Parliament,[3] triggering the 2018 Wentworth by-election on 20 October 2018,[4] which was won by independent candidate Kerryn Phelps.[5] Phelps narrowly lost her seat to Liberal Dave Sharma in the 2019 Australian federal election.

Sharma lost the seat in the May 2022 Australian federal election to "teal independent" Allegra Spender amid the Liberal collapse in the North Shore.[6] The swing against the Liberals was large enough to make Wentworth marginal against Labor in a "traditional" two-party contest for the first time since 1943; on paper, Sharma's margin against Labor was pared down to 5.9 percent.

Boundaries

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[7]

Wentworth is the second-smallest geographical electoral division in the Parliament with an area of just 38 square kilometres (15 sq mi), covering Woolloomooloo along the southern shore of Sydney Harbour to Watsons Bay and down the coast to Clovelly—an area largely coextensive with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The western boundary runs along Oxford Street, Flinders Street and South Dowling Street, then eastward along Alison Road to Randwick Racecourse and Clovelly Beach. It includes the suburbs of Bellevue Hill, Ben Buckler, Bondi, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Bronte, Centennial Park, Darling Point, Double Bay, Dover Heights, Edgecliff, Moore Park, North Bondi, Paddington, Point Piper, Queens Park, Rose Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Tamarama, Vaucluse, Watsons Bay, Waverley and Woollahra; as well as parts of Clovelly, Darlinghurst, East Sydney, Elizabeth Bay, Kings Cross, Potts Point and Randwick.

Members

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Sir William McMillan
(1850–1926)
Free Trade 29 March 1901
23 November 1903
Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Burwood. Retired
  Willie Kelly
(1877–1960)
Free Trade 16 December 1903
1906
Served as minister under Cook. Retired
  Anti-Socialist 1906 –
26 May 1909
  Commonwealth Liberal 26 May 1909 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
3 November 1919
  Walter Marks
(1875–1951)
Nationalist 13 December 1919
September 1929
Lost seat
  Independent Nationalist September 1929 –
2 December 1929
  Australian 2 December 1929 –
September 1930
  Independent September 1930 –
7 May 1931
  United Australia 7 May 1931 –
19 December 1931
  (Sir) Eric Harrison
(1892–1974)
United Australia 19 December 1931
21 February 1945
Served as minister under Lyons, Page, Menzies and Fadden. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
  Liberal 21 February 1945 –
17 October 1956
  Les Bury
(1913–1986)
Liberal 8 December 1956
11 April 1974
Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton and McMahon. Lost preselection and retired
  Bob Ellicott
(1927–2022)
Liberal 18 May 1974
17 February 1981
Served as minister under Fraser. Resigned to become a judge on the Federal Court
  Peter Coleman
(1928–2019)
Liberal 11 April 1981
5 June 1987
Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Fuller. Retired
  John Hewson
(1946–)
Liberal 11 July 1987
28 February 1995
Served as Opposition Leader from 1990 to 1994. Resigned to retire from politics
  Andrew Thomson
(1961–)
Liberal 8 April 1995
8 October 2001
Served as minister under Howard. Lost preselection and retired
  Peter King
(1952–)
Liberal 10 November 2001
3 September 2004
Lost preselection and then lost seat
  Independent 3 September 2004 –
9 October 2004
  Malcolm Turnbull
(1954–)
Liberal 9 October 2004
31 August 2018
Served as minister under Howard and Abbott. Served as Opposition Leader from 2008 to 2009. Served as Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018. Resigned to retire from politics
  Kerryn Phelps
(1957–)
Independent 20 October 2018
18 May 2019
Lost seat
  Dave Sharma
(1975–)
Liberal 18 May 2019
21 May 2022
Lost seat. Later appointed to the Senate in 2023.
  Allegra Spender
(1978–)
Independent 21 May 2022
present
Incumbent

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Wentworth[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dave Sharma 35,995 40.48 −6.96
Independent Allegra Spender 31,810 35.77 +35.77
Labor Tim Murray 9,654 10.86 −0.09
Greens Dominic Wy Kanak 7,410 8.33 +0.80
United Australia Natalie Dumer 1,813 2.04 +1.34
Liberal Democrats Daniel Lewkovitz 1,346 1.51 +1.51
One Nation Dean Fisher 895 1.01 +1.01
Total formal votes 88,923 97.50 +0.49
Informal votes 2,277 2.50 −0.49
Turnout 91,200 87.93 −1.47
Notional two-party-preferred count
Liberal Dave Sharma 49,727 55.92 −3.93
Labor Tim Murray 39,196 44.08 +3.93
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Allegra Spender 48,186 54.19 +54.19
Liberal Dave Sharma 40,737 45.81 −5.50
Independent gain from Liberal  

References

  1. ^ corporateName=Australian Electoral Commission; address=10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2600; contact=13 23 26. "Profile of the electoral division of Wentworth (NSW)". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Bowe, William (20 October 2018). "2018 Wentworth by-election". The Poll Bludger. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  3. ^ Hutchens, Gareth (27 August 2018). "Malcolm Turnbull to trigger byelection by quitting parliament on Friday". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 February 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  4. ^ "2018 Wentworth by-election - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  5. ^ "Commentary - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  6. ^ Wang, Jessica (22 May 2022). "Outgoing Wentworth MP Dave Sharma's extreme reaction after Allegra Spender wins". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  7. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  8. ^ Wentworth, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

  • Division of Wentworth – Australian Electoral Commission
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Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in New South Wales
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