Electoral division of Drysdale

History

Palmerston had long been considered a conservative stronghold, and for the first eight years of its life, Drysdale was considered to be a safe seat for the Country Liberal Party. CLP candidate Stephen Dunham easily won the seat at the 1997 election and easily retained it at the 2001 election.

Most commentators predicted that the CLP's dominance in Drysdale would continue at the 2005 election, although the Labor Party were running a high-profile candidate, former AFL Northern Territory general manager Chris Natt. However, there was a significant swing to the ALP across the territory on election day, and Dunham was ultimately defeated, along with several other CLP sitting members. The final result took several days to be decided, but ultimately Natt won the seat on a swing of 17.5 percent. Even more surprisingly, he won enough primary votes to take the seat without the need for preferences. However, before the 2008 election, a redistribution erased Natt's majority and made Drysdale a notional CLP seat. Ross Bohlin regained the seat for the CLP on a large swing, but lost his preselection in 2012 and contested the election as an independent candidate. He was defeated by the CLP's endorsed candidate, Lia Finocchiaro.

After a redistribution transferred much of Finocchiaro's base to the new seat of Spillett, Finocchiaro opted to transfer to Spillett even though Drysdale was still a safe CLP seat on paper. However, at the 2016 election, the CLP's primary vote plunged by over 20 percent amid the party's near-total meltdown in Palmerston. Eva Lawler took the seat for Labor on a swing of over 16 percent, becoming only the second Labor member ever to win it. She then increased her majority at the 2020 election, becoming the first Labor MLA to retain a Palmerston seat.

Lawler became Chief Minister in late 2023. However, at the 2024 Territory election, Lawler was routed in her own seat by the CLP's Clinton Howe amid Labor's meltdown in Darwin and Palmerston. Howe reclaimed the seat for the CLP on a swing of over 20 percent, enough to revert Drysdale to its traditional status as a safe CLP seat. He actually won an outright majority on the primary vote, enough to take the seat off Labor without the need for preferences.

Members for Drysdale

Election results

References

References

1. (25 February 2012). "VIDEO: Bohlin loses CLP preselection". ABC News.
2. (12 July 2012). "INDEPENDENT BOHLIN: Here is our story from last night about dumped CLP politician Ross Bohlin revealing he'll run as an Independent in August's election". 9 News Darwin.
3. (2014). "2012 NT General Election Report". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.