Electoral district of Northcote

Northcote Victoria—Legislative Assembly
Location of Northcote (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
State	Victoria
Created	1927
MP	Fiona Richardson
Party	Australian Labor Party
Namesake	Suburb of Northcote
Electors	44,273 (2014)
Area	21 km^2 (8.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Metropolitan

The electoral district of Northcote (/ˈnoːθ.kət/) is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers the suburbs of Alphington, Fairfield, Northcote, Thornbury, and part of Preston. It lies on the northern bank of the Yarra River between the Merri and Darebin creeks.

The seat was created in 1927 as a replacement for Jika Jika, and has been a comfortably safe Labor seat for its entire existence. It has only been held by five members. It most famous member was former Premier John Cain. Upon Cain's retirement in 1957, he was succeeded by Frank Wilkes, who went on to become state Labor leader from 1977 to 1981.

Former ABC newsreader Mary Delahunty was elected in an 1998 by-election. As the electorate was safe for the Labor Party, the Liberals declined to nominate a candidate. However, partly due to the presence of a One Nation candidate, the Liberals took the unusual step of actively campaigning for the Australian Democrats, issuing a 'How to Vote Liberal' card which advocated voting Democrat, and then Premier Jeff Kennett also wrote to voters urging them to vote Democrat.^[1]

While the law has since been changed stopping party campaigning directly for other parties, that the seat is safe for Labor has meant the Liberals have often run dead. Since the turn of the millennium, they have often been pushed into third place on the primary vote, allowing other parties, like the Greens in 2002, to become the main challengers to Labor.

Members for Northcote

	Member	Party	Term
	John Cain	Labor	1927–1957
	Frank Wilkes	Labor	1957–1988
	Tony Sheehan	Labor	1988–1998
	Mary Delahunty	Labor	1998–2006
	Fiona Richardson	Labor	2006–present

Election results

Victorian state election, 2014: Northcote^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Fiona Richardson	15,928	41.0	−3.1
	Greens	Trent McCarthy	14,101	36.3	+4.4
	Liberal	Anthony D'Angelo	6,407	16.5	−3.2
	The Basics Rock 'n' Roll	Jamie McCarney	1,043	2.7	+2.7
	Animal Justice	Georgina Purcell	678	1.7	+1.7
	Independent	Bryony Edwards	324	0.8	+0.8
Total formal votes			38,871	95.8	−0.0
Informal votes			1,713	4.2	+0.0
Turnout			40,584	91.7	+2.1
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Fiona Richardson	21,783	56.0	−4.2
	Greens	Trent McCarthy	17,088	44.0	+4.2
	Labor hold		Swing	−4.2

References

2. State Election 2014: Northcote District, VEC.

External links

• Electorate profile: Northcote District, Victorian Electoral Commission