Electoral district of Bligh

Bligh was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was created in 1962, partly replacing Electoral district of Paddington-Waverley and was an urban electorate, covering 13.03 km2 and taking in the suburbs of Potts Point, Darling Point, Woolloomooloo, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Edgecliff, Darlinghurst, Paddington, Surry Hills, Redfern, Darlington and part of Chippendale. It was a highly diverse electorate, as it contained both some of the wealthiest suburbs of Sydney, along the edge of the harbour, as well as some of the city's most disadvantaged areas, such as those around Redfern. This had the effect of making Bligh a marginal seat, although as the wealthier suburbs outnumbered the poorer suburbs, it tended to be Liberal-leaning. Independent Clover Moore defeated the incumbent Liberal member Michael Yabsley in 1988 (Yabsley subsequently reentered Parliament in the Vaucluse by-election later that year) and held the seat until its abolition in 2007, when it was replaced by the electoral district of Sydney.

Members for Bligh

MemberPartyTerm
 Tom Morey[1]Labor1962–1965
 Morton Cohen[2]Liberal1965–1968
 John Barraclough[3]Liberal1968–1981
 Fred Miller[4]Labor1981–1984
 Michael Yabsley[5]Liberal1984–1988
 Clover Moore[6]Independent1988–2007

Election results

2003 New South Wales state election: Bligh [7][8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
IndependentClover Moore15,33038.5+1.2
LaborBarri Phatarfod9,07122.8-9.1
LiberalShayne Mallard8,49621.3-0.1
GreensAnita Ceravolo5,63414.1+8.2
UnityStephen Pong6421.6+0.0
Christian DemocratsJon Phillips2790.7+0.7
IndependentMalcolm Duncan2680.7+0.0
IndependentGary Burns1130.3+0.3
Total formal votes39,83397.8+0.1
Informal votes8822.2-0.1
Turnout40,71584.3
Notional two-party-preferred count
LaborBarri Phatarfod15,49960.9-0.9
LiberalShayne Mallard9,97139.1+0.9
Two-candidate-preferred result
IndependentClover Moore19,25364.7+4.9
LaborBarri Phatarfod10,52535.3-4.9
Independent holdSwing+4.9

References