Davidson
Margin: Liberal 36.2%
Region: Northern Sydney
Federal: Bradfield (69%)/Mackellar (28%)/North Sydney (3%)
Candidates in ballot paper order
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MARIAM SALAMA KATE BEVAN JONATHAN O’DEA DAVID SENTINELLA DOUGLAS ST QUINTIN |
2011 BOOTH RESULTS MAP |
PAST RESULTS |
DEMOGRAPHICS |
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Two-party preferred booth results from 2011 state election showing Liberal majority in blue and Labor in red. New boundaries in thicker blue lines, old ones in thinner red lines. Boundary data courtesy of Ben Raue of The Tally Room.
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Centred around the suburb 15 kilometres north of central Sydney that bears its name, the blue-ribbon Liberal electorate of Davidson extends north to St Ives Chase and Garigal National Park and south to Roseville. The redistribution has effected two changes to its western boundary with Ku-ring-gai, adding 6500 voters around Lindfield in the electorate’s south-western corner and transferring 4500 in parts of Pymble and Turramurra further to the north, while further adding around 2000 voters at Castle Cove in the south-east, from Willoughby. The changes have little impact on the margin, leaving intact the electorate’s status as the Coalition’s safest seat.
Despite its reliability as a Liberal stronghold, Davidson has had an interesting history since its creation in 1971. The member from 1981 to 1992 was Terry Metherell, the Greiner government Education Minister whose resignation from parliament to take up a public service sinecure after he moved to the cross-bench led to Nick Greiner’s downfall as Premier. Nonetheless, Metherell’s departure nonetheless succeeded in its presumed aim of returning the seat to the Liberals, with Andrew Humpherson winning the seat for the party at the ensuing by-election.
Humpherson held the seat until defeated for preselection ahead of the 2007 election by the present member, former insurance executive Jonathan O’Dea. Despite cross-factional backing among central party delegates, Humpherson lost support in local branches after reportedly instructing elderly party members to quit branches under O’Dea’s control, thereby reducing their voting power. Simon Benson of the Daily Telegraph quoted sources saying Brendan Nelson, then the federal member for Bradfield, had been involved in efforts to remove Humpherson as a moderate faction payback against the recent activities of the Right, which included a number of preselection coups and a perceived role in the demise of John Brogden. Despite the urgings of then leader Peter Debnam, O’Dea won the vote 54 to 52.