Sanderson is an

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. It was first created in 1974, and derives its name from the name initially given to the area in 1879, before its division into suburbs. Sanderson is an urban electorate, covering 21 km² and taking in the Darwin suburbs of Anula,

Marrara Marrara is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. History Shown on Goyder's original surveys of Darwin in 1869 was the swamp between the suburb and the Darwin International Airport, but like Leanyer, the nam ...

, Wulagi and part of Malak. There were 5,449 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020. Sanderson is a bellwether seat that has only tended to change hands at times of major political change in the Territory. It was initially won by the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

Liz Andrew Elizabeth Jean Andrew (later Andrew-Oates; 28 February 1948 – 12 April 1993) was an Australian politician. She was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1974 to 1977, representing the suburban Dar ...

in 1974, when the CLP won all but two seats in the Assembly (both of which went to independents). However, Andrew was defeated by the Labor Party's June D'Rozario when the ALP swept into the Assembly in 1977, taking several seats. D'Rozario held the seat until 1983, she was swept by the CLP's Daryl Manzie amid the massive CLP landslide of that year. Manzie was a popular incumbent, and held the seat relatively easily until his retirement in 2001. Sanderson then reverted to the ALP in 2001, when

Len Kiely Leonard Francis Kiely (born 1954) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for Sanderson in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the ...

was swept into office amid Labor's sweep of north Darwin. The seat was targeted by the CLP at the 2005 election as one they hoped to win back, but Kiely had little difficulty winning a second term amidst a massive territory-wide swing to the ALP. He was defeated in 2008 by Peter Styles, who became only the second opposition MP in the seat's history. Styles retained the seat in 2012 amid the CLP victory of that year, despite a small swing to the ALP. In the 2016 election, Styles was heavily defeated by Labor's Kate Worden amid the CLP's collapse in Darwin. Worden picked up a swing of over 13 percent, turning Sanderson into a safe Labor seat at one stroke. Worden consolidated her hold on the seat in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, and now sits on a majority of 19.3 percent, the second-safest in the Territory.

Members for Sanderson

Election results

References

External links

Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
{{coord, 12, 23, 54, S, 130, 52, 48, E, display=title Sanderson