2008 Mayo by-election
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The 2008 Mayo by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Mayo, located in Adelaide, South Australia, on 6 September 2008, following the retirement of Liberal Party MP and former Liberal leader Alexander Downer. The by-election was held on the same day as the Lyne by-election, and the Western Australian state election. The writ for the by-election was issued 4 August, with the
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closing on 8 August. Candidate nominations closed on 14 August. The by-election was contested on the same boundaries drawn for Mayo at the
2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
. The seat was won by Jamie Briggs of the Liberal Party on a
two-candidate preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...
vote of 53 per cent against the
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.


Background

Downer first won the seat of Mayo at its creation at the 1984 federal election. He retained the seat at each subsequent election. The 2007 Liberal two-party-preferred vote of 57.1 percent was at the time the narrowest in the seat's history. Except for 1998, the seat was won at each election by the Liberals on primary votes alone. Despite this, the Australian Democrats and independents have traditionally polled well, including two elections where the Democrats and independent Brian Deegan came second. At the 1998 election the Democrats reduced the Mayo Liberal margin to just 1.7 percent. At the
2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
, Downer retained his seat against his main Labor Party competitor by a two-party preferred vote of 57.06 percent to 42.94 percent. However, the opposition Labor Party defeated the incumbent Liberal-National
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government, the first change of government in over 11 years. Downer had served as
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throughout the duration of the previous government. He was also Liberal leader and leader of the opposition for several months in 1994. On 3 July 2008, Downer announced his intention to resign his seat. He officially resigned from parliament on 14 July. He, with
Mark Vaile Mark Anthony James Vaile (born 18 April 1956) is a former deputy prime minister of Australia and former leader of the National Party of Australia. Vaile is currently a non-executive director of a number of public listed corporations. Early li ...
in
Lyne Lyne may refer to: Places * Division of Lyne, an electoral division in New South Wales, Australia * Lyne, Denmark, a town in southwest Denmark * Lyne, Surrey a village in southern England * River Lyne, a river of Cumbria in England * Lyne, Sco ...
, became the next former
Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
government ministers returned at the 2007 election to resign their seats.
Peter McGauran Peter John McGauran (born 16 November 1955) is a former Australian politician who served as a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives. He represented the Division of Gippsland in Victoria from 5 March 1983 to 9 April 2 ...
had done likewise earlier in 2008.


Candidates

Eleven candidates contested the by-election. They are listed below in ballot order. *''
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'' – Lynton Vonow, Adelaide Hills resident, school services officer. *''
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'' – Rachael Barons. *''Independent'' – Bill Spragg, Adelaide Hills councillor and lecturer in information technology at TAFE SA, who had also contested Mayo in 2001. *'' One Nation'' – Mathew Keizer, Adelaide Hills resident and domestic community support worker. *''Independent'' – Mary Brewerton, retired nurse, contested Mayo for Labor in 2007. *'' Australian Democrats'' – Andrew Castrique, Adelaide Hills resident, school laboratory technician. *'' Liberal Party of Australia'' – Jamie Briggs, former
Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
government advisor *''Independent'' – Malcolm Ronald King, retired. *'' Family First Party'' –
Bob Day Robert John Day (born 5 July 1952) is an Australian former politician and businessman who was a Senator for South Australia from 1 July 2014 to 1 November 2016. He is a former federal chairman of the Family First Party. Before entering po ...
, businessman and former Liberal Party member. *'' Democratic Labor Party'' – David McCabe, clerk. *''Independent'' – Di Bell, anthropologist and author. South Australian independent Senator Nick Xenophon gave support to Bell's campaign. Labor opted not to stand a candidate.


Liberal preselection

The candidature of Liberal Jamie Briggs was criticised because of his role in controversial industrial-relations policies and reports that some Liberal Party colleagues were unhappy with his preselection.
Bob Day Robert John Day (born 5 July 1952) is an Australian former politician and businessman who was a Senator for South Australia from 1 July 2014 to 1 November 2016. He is a former federal chairman of the Family First Party. Before entering po ...
, who had held membership of the Liberal Party for 20 years and was the endorsed Liberal candidate for Makin in 2007, quit the party after failing to win Mayo preselection with 10 out of 271 votes, claiming a "manipulated" preselection process. Iain Evans, who came second to Briggs, agreed to some extent.


Results

The Liberals retained the seat despite a reduced 41.3 percent primary vote after suffering a 9.8 percent primary swing. Some commentators drew comparisons between this and the
2002 Cunningham by-election The 2002 Cunningham by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Division of Cunningham, Cunningham in New South Wales on 19 October 2002. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party ...
. The Liberal two-candidate vote of 53 percent against
Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...
candidate Lynton Vonow compared to the previous election vote of 57.1 percent against Labor, which turned Mayo from a fairly safe seat in to a marginal two-candidate seat. The reduction of 4 percent cannot be considered a "two-party/candidate preferred
swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...
" − when a major party is absent, preference flows to both major parties does not take place, resulting in asymmetric preference flows.An Example of Non-Monotonicity and Opportunities for Tactical Voting at an Australian Election: Antony Green ABC 4 May 2011
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2016 outcome

Eight years later, Rebekha Sharkie of the Nick Xenophon Team was successful in defeating Liberal incumbent Jamie Briggs in Mayo at the 2016 federal election with a 55 percent two-candidate vote to the Liberals' 45 percent two-candidate vote, a reduction of 17.2 percent. Additionally, Mayo became a marginal two-party seat for the first time with the Liberal two-party vote reduced to 55.4 percent, a two-party swing of 7.2 percent.


See also

* List of Australian federal by-elections


References


External links

* {{Aus by-elections 42nd parl 2008 elections in Australia South Australian federal by-elections