Electoral district of Richmond (Victoria)

This article is about the Victorian state electorate. For the former New South Wales electoral district, see Electoral district of Richmond (New South Wales). For the federal electoral division, see Division of Richmond.
Richmond
Victoria—Legislative Assembly
Location of Richmond (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
StateVictoria
Created1856
MPGabrielle de Vietri
PartyGreens
NamesakeSuburb of Richmond
Electors48,305 (2022)
Area13 km2 (5.0 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

Richmond is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is currently a 13 km2 electorate in the inner east of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, North Fitzroy and Fitzroy. Historically a very safe seat for the Labor Party, Richmond has in recent elections become increasingly marginal against the Greens, who eventually won the seat at the 2022 Victorian state election.

History

Richmond is one of only three electorates (along with Brighton and Williamstown) to have been contested at every election since 1856.[1] It was initially a two-member electorate, but was changed to return only a single member in the redistribution of 1904 when several new districts were created including Abbotsford.[1] It covers a series of traditionally working-class, industrial suburbs, and has been continuously held by the Labor Party with the exception of only one term since 1904. The brief exception occurred amidst the famous Labor split of 1955, when the incumbent Labor member, Frank Scully, joined six other Catholic MPs in breaking away to found the Democratic Labor Party. Scully, as the party's leader, was the only MP to hold his seat at the next election, but was defeated in 1958 by Bill Towers, previously the member for the abolished seat of Collingwood.

Though a traditionally safe Labor seat, it has become progressively marginal in recent years due to increasing support for the Greens in the area. This first occurred at the 2002 state election, when union organiser Gemma Pinnell nearly won the seat on Liberal preferences, taking 47 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The Green surge was seen as a reaction to the conservative policies of the then federal Labor leader, Kim Beazley, by the generally progressive inner city constituency. Labor polled slightly better in the 2006 state election, taking 54% of the two-party preferred against Greens candidate and local councillor Gurm Sekhon. It remains a marginal seat, however, and was strongly contested by Greens candidate, Kathleen Maltzahn, at the state elections in 2010 and 2014.

Former member Richard Wynne, a Labor Party member, served as the state Minister for Housing and Minister for Local Government in the Bracks and Brumby governments from 2006 to 2010, and was the Minister for Planning in the second Andrews government. Wynne gained the seat in 1999 after the former Labor member, Demetri Dollis, was disendorsed for extended absence overseas.

The current member is Gabrielle de Vietri.

Historical maps

  • Location within Greater Melbourne area, 1859
    Location within Greater Melbourne area, 1859
  • Map of Richmond district (etc.), 1856[2]
    Map of Richmond district (etc.), 1856[2]

Members for Richmond

1856–1904, 2 members
Member 1 Party Term Member 2 Party Term
George Evans   Unaligned 1856–1859   Daniel Campbell Unaligned 1856–1859
James Francis   Unaligned 1859–1874   Alfred Woolley Unaligned 1859–1861
  Thomas Lambert Unaligned 1861–1864
  Archibald Wardrop Unaligned 1864–1866
  Ambrose Kyte Unaligned 1867[b]–1867
  James Harcourt Unaligned 1868–1871
  Louis Smith Unaligned 1871–1874
Joseph Bosisto   Unaligned 1874[b]–1889   Robert Inglis Unaligned 1874–1877
  Louis Smith Unaligned 1877–1880
  William Walker Unaligned 1880
  Louis Smith Unaligned 1880–1883
  Charles Smith Unaligned 1883–1889
George Bennett   Unaligned 1889–1908
  William Trenwith Labor 1889–1903
  George Roberts Labor 1903[b]–1904
1904–present, 1 member
Member Party Start End Notes
Ted Cotter   Labor 1908[b] 1945
Stan Keon   Labor 1945 1949
Frank Scully   Labor 1949[b] 1955
  Democratic Labor 1955 1958
Bill Towers   Labor 1958 1962
Clyde Holding   Labor 1962[b] 1977
Theo Sidiropoulos   Labor 1977[b] 1988
Demetri Dollis   Labor 1988 1999
Richard Wynne   Labor 1999 2022
Gabrielle de Vietri   Greens 2022 Incumbent

b = by-election

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Richmond (Victoria)
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly) § Richmond.[edit]
2022 Victorian state election: Richmond[3][4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Greens Gabrielle de Vietri 13,771 34.7 +1.2
Labor Lauren O'Dwyer 13,037 32.8 −11.6
Liberal Lucas Moon 7,456 18.8 +18.8
Reason Jeremy Cowen 1,830 4.6 −2.0
Victorian Socialists Roz Ward 1,828 4.6 +4.6
Animal Justice Lis Viggers 934 2.3 −0.5
Family First Markus Freiverts 458 1.2 +1.2
Independent Meca Ho 417 1.0 +1.0
Total formal votes 39,731 96.6 +2.5
Informal votes 1,381 3.4 −2.5
Turnout 41,112 85.1 −0.4
Notional two-party-preferred count
Labor Lauren O'Dwyer 29,451 74.1 −7.1
Liberal Lucas Moon 10,280 25.9 +7.1
Two-candidate-preferred result
Greens Gabrielle de Vietri 22,771 57.2 +14.1
Labor Lauren O'Dwyer 17,012 42.8 −14.1
Greens gain from Labor Swing +14.1

References

  1. ^ a b "Re-Member (Former Members)". State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  2. ^ "Central Province and Electoral Districts of Melbourne, St Kilda, Collingwood, South Melbourne, Richmond and Williamstown" (map). State Library of Victoria. 27 November 1855. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  3. ^ Green, Antony (11 January 2023). "VIC22 – 2-Party Preferred Results and Swings by District". Antony Green's Election Blog. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ VIC 2021 Final Redistribution, ABC News. [Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  5. ^ Richmond District results, Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

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