ALP 15.8%
Incumbent MP
Sonia Hornery, since 2007.
Geography
Hunter. Wallsend covers western suburbs of the City of Newcastle and a small part of the City of Lake Macquarie. Suburbs include Cardiff Heights, Rankin Park, New Lambton, Callaghan, Jesmond, Shortland, Wallsend, Maryland and Elermore Vale.
History
The current reincarnation of Wallsend has existed since 1968. Wallsend existed at three other periods dating back to 1894. It has always been held by Labor MPs.
Wallsend was first won in 1968 by Ken Booth. He had held the seat of Kurri Kurri since a 1960 by-election. He had succeeded his father George, who had sat in Parliament from 1925 until his death in 1960. Kurri Kurri was abolished in 1968.
The younger Booth served as Treasurer from 1981 to 1988, when the ALP lost power. Booth died later that year.
The 1988 by-election was won by John Mills. He held the seat for the ALP until his retirement in 2007.
Wallsend was won in 2007 by Newcastle councillor Sonia Hornery. She served as a parliamentary secretary from 2007 to 2009, when she was removed for opposing the state government’s privatisation plans.
Candidates
- Michael Jackson (Independent)
- Keith Parsons (Greens)
- Shayne Connell (Independent)
- Chris Dolan (Liberal)
- Sonia Hornery (Labor)
- Andrew Weatherstone (Christian Democratic Party)
- Ray Broderick (Family First)
Political situation
Wallsend is the safest Labor seat in the Hunter area. Even in the current climate, the 15.8% margin should be enough for the ALP to hold on.
2007 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Sonia Hornery | ALP | 21,607 | 51.0 | -4.4 |
| James Herington | LIB | 10,737 | 25.4 | +1.4 |
| Keith Parsons | GRN | 5,145 | 12.2 | +2.7 |
| Dallas Davies | FISH | 2,857 | 6.7 | +6.7 |
| Milton Caine | CDP | 1,989 | 4.7 | +2.0 |
2007 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Sonia Hornery | ALP | 24,690 | 65.8 | -4.0 |
| James Herington | LIB | 12,834 | 34.2 | +4.0 |
Booth breakdown
Wallsend has been divided into four areas: Cardiff in the south, New Lambton in the southeast, Wallsend in the northwest, and Waratah-Jesmond in the northeast.
The ALP polled 58% in New Lambton and 66-68% in the other parts of the seat. The Greens polled 18% in the New Lambton area and around 10% in the rest of the seat.
| Voter group | GRN % | ALP 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Wallsend | 10.2 | 67.8 | 16,493 | 39.0 |
| New Lambton | 18.0 | 58.0 | 7,134 | 16.9 |
| Waratah-Jesmond | 11.8 | 68.1 | 6,889 | 16.3 |
| Cardiff | 11.3 | 66.2 | 4,888 | 11.5 |
| Other votes | 11.7 | 64.7 | 6,931 | 16.4 |
Shayne Connell, Newcastle City councillor has announced his nomination as an Independent.
Chris Dolan will be running as the Liberal candidate. I hope he bets the sitting EMILY list MP
Ironic that the only Liberal booth has the highest Green vote, although under OPV that may not be so ironic.
Newcastle Councillor Mike Jackson has quit the ALP to run as an independent in Wallsend. There goes Wallsend.
Is anyone from Newcastle Council not running for parliament?
Here’s the report on Mike Jackson’s announcement:
http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/news/general/councillor-mike-jackson-quits-alp/2078663.aspx
Now a possible (if not probable) Liberal gain given the above announcement.
Good luck to Shayne, he will do well. Wallsend is not as safe as people think.
My prediction: Labor retain, 10-12% swing to Liberals.
Actually there are only 3 Councillors on Newcastle City Council running for parliament – Connell and Jackson in Wallsend and Tate in Newcastle.
For more information on Shayne Connell, Independent for Wallsend visit http://www.shayneconnell.com.au
Right, is this the last seat in the Hunter? (which ALP had a hope of keeping, I mean)
This added with the increasingly unsafe looking Macquarie Fields…
We’ll be lucky to break 20. We’ll keep Heffron, the Lakemba-Canterbury belt, a northwest cluster with Toongabbie, Blacktown and Mount Druitt, and then Wollongong, Keira and Shellharbour down south.
ps. anybody wants to know how the last republicans in madrid looking at a map felt as Franco’s forces closed in hit me up.
Crazedmongoose – while we are on opposite sides of the political fence mate, I still have the ALP for 23. A few if’s around that though. But it should be fairly close to the mark.
For information about the independent candidate for the seat of Wallsend – Michael Jackson – please visit the above website.
without numbering the ballot in full, ALP wins this seat. Preferences must flow to oust the current member, so a #1 only will not cut it. Connell is campaigning well and Jackson is well regarded. The Greens don’t do well here and have offered up a jaded candidate who runs in every election and does not live in the electorate
Also Sarah, there are 4 Newcastle councillors running with King listed on John Hatton’s team, albeit in an unwinnable position.
Three candidate are running in the lower house, and interestingly ALL live in this electorate. Tate though is runnign for Newcastle, and so is in the unenviable position of not being able to rely on his own vote.
Ok, so I understand both Connell and Jackson aren’t directing preferences to anyone, Greens are directing to Jackson and Liberals to Connell. Can someone clarify if Liberals and Greens are then directing preferences to the respective other independent as well or then exhausting?
To partly answer my own question, Greens preference recommendation is going to Jackson, then Labor, then Connell.
Cara’s statement – 9 Feb – “sitting EMILY list MP” is incorrect. The sitting MP is not a member of Emily’s List. The unnamed organisation letterboxing flyers needs to get its facts right.