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North Shore Labor in striking distance of Liberals: Climate 200 poll – North Sydney Sun

North Shore Labor in striking distance of Liberals: Climate 200 poll

NSW Labor is experiencing a significant lift of support, more than doubling its 2019 vote in North Shore, according to a new opinion poll conducted by Redbridge for Climate 200.
The poll, which is being used by activist group North Sydney’s Independent to guide its strategy for the election, showed Labor on 29% of the primary vote, just 4% behind the Liberals on 33%. An unnamed independent candidate scored 24%. The percentages were weighted for local age and gender data.

This compared to actual 2019 results of 47% for Liberal incumbent Felicity Wilson, 20% for independent Carolyn Corrigan and 13% for Labor candidate Michael Lester.

The poll is a tremendous boost for Godfrey Santer, the newly preselected Labor candidate for North Shore and recently elected deputy mayor for North Sydney Council. Santer is a former diplomat and small business owner.

The poll suggests that the vote for an independent candidate rises to 34% if they were similar to Kylea Tink, the independent federal MP for North Sydney who was first spotted by North Sydney’s Independent and encouraged to run. Under this scenario, the Liberal vote rises to 35% and the Labor vote falls to 20%. What makes this result unusual is that 23% of those who said they would vote for a Kylea Tink-style independent said they did not recall Tink’s name while a further 31% were unsure. Another aspect that casts doubt on this result: around half of North Shore falls under a different federal independent, Zali Stegall.

The poll of 600 voters was released as North Sydney’s Independent indicated they were wrapping up a process to select a candidate for the election.

In a note to supporters, co-convenor Denise Shrivell wrote: “Our expectation continues to be that Larissa Penn will run as an independent in the seat of Willoughby so we decided to first focus on the seat of Lane Cove – and then based on strong community feedback we also took on the seat of North Shore. The search for candidates has taken longer than we envisaged, as we’re asking members of our community to take on significant, life-changing roles. We’ve been honoured to have spoken with and met many amazing people through this process. We’re truly a fortunate community.
I can tell you that we are close to finalising candidate selection – and then will go through the process of preparing all the collateral and assets required to launch their campaigns.”

There is also some anticipation that a candidate will emerge from the Real Independents camp, which controls the mayor position at North Sydney Council. There has been speculation that former mayor Genia McCaffery may run for the group, fuelled by a Facebook post hastily withdrawn minutes after posting on 24 October which suggested local residents were “going to see a whole lot more of North Sydney’s favourite former Head Honcho and all time bestie… watch this space.”