Cause of by-election
Sitting MP Jimmy Sullivan passed away in April 2026. Sullivan was a Labor MP but was expelled from the party in 2025 after domestic violence allegations.
Margin – ALP 5.3%
Incumbent MP
Jimmy Sullivan, 2020-2026.
Geography
Brisbane. Stafford covers the northern Brisbane suburbs of Stafford, Stafford Heights, Grange, Newmarket, Wilston, Kedron, Chermside and parts of Alderley, Lutwyche, and Wavell Heights.
The seat of Stafford was first created in 1972. It was abolished in 1992 before being restored in 2001. The seat was a marginal seat throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was held by Labor from 2001 to 2012, and again since the 2014 by-election.
The seat was first won in 1972 by William Harvey. He was defeated by the Liberal Party’s Terry Gygar in the 1974 landslide election.
Gygar held the seat at the 1977 and 1980 elections before losing in 1983 to the ALP’s Denis Murphy. Murphy was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1984 without ever speaking in Parliament.
Gygar regained his seat at the 1984 by-election, and held it until 1989.
Rod Welford won the seat for the Labor Party in 1989. When Stafford was abolished in 1992 he moved to the neighbouring seat of Everton. He held Everton until his retirement in 2009. He also served as a minister in the Beattie and Bligh governments from 1998 to 2009.
The ALP’s Terry Sullivan won the newly restored seat of Stafford in 2001. Sullivan had first been elected at the 1991 Nundah by-election. Nundah was abolished in 1992, and Sullivan moved to the new seat of Chermside. This seat was also abolished in 2001, and Sullivan moved to Stafford. He retired in 2006.
Stirling Hinchliffe, also of the ALP, won the seat in 2006, and retained it in 2009.
In 2012, Hinchliffe lost his seat to LNP candidate Chris Davis. Davis was appointed as Assistant Minister for Health in the new LNP government. In May 2014 he was sacked as a minister due to numerous public disagreements with his colleagues. Later that month, he resigned from the Parliament in protest at the direction of the Newman LNP government.
The July 2014 by-election was easily won by Labor candidate Anthony Lynham, benefiting from a 19% swing back to Labor. Lynham was re-elected in 2015 and 2017.
Lynham retired in 2020, and was succeeded by Labor candidate Jimmy Sullivan.
Sullivan was re-elected in 2024, but police were called to his house the day after the election due to an alleged domestic violence incident. He was expelled from the Labor Party in May 2025 and was found dead in April 2026.
Assessment
Labor would be favourites to regain this seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Jimmy Sullivan | Labor | 13,856 | 38.8 | -6.8 |
| Fiona Hammond | Liberal National | 13,605 | 38.1 | +6.2 |
| Jess Lane | Greens | 6,456 | 18.1 | +1.7 |
| Stuart Andrews | One Nation | 1,134 | 3.2 | +0.2 |
| Alan Denaro | Family First | 692 | 1.9 | +1.9 |
| Informal | 971 | 2.6 |
2024 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Jimmy Sullivan | Labor | 19,774 | 55.3 | -6.6 |
| Fiona Hammond | Liberal National | 15,969 | 44.7 | +6.6 |
Booths in Stafford have been divided into three areas: central, north and south.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 55.9% in the south to 61.7% in the north.
The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 17.7% in the north to 22.5% in the south.
| Voter group | GRN prim | ALP 2PP | Total | % of votes |
| Central | 19.5 | 58.5 | 2,735 | 13.1 |
| North | 17.7 | 61.7 | 2,245 | 10.2 |
| South | 22.5 | 55.9 | 1,370 | 6.9 |
| Pre-Poll | 17.5 | 54.7 | 8,211 | 42.0 |
| Other votes | 17.2 | 52.3 | 5,213 | 27.9 |
Election results in Stafford at the 2024 Queenslnad state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal National Party and the Greens.