The ABC‘s election analyst / beloved man Antony Green says the Liberal Party has scooped up the seats of Wentworth and Boothby, bringing them just one seat away from forming a majority government.
The Liberal candidate for Sydney’s Wentworth, Dave Sharma, has now retaken the seat for his party after they lost it to Dr Kerryn Phelps in last year’s byelection re: Malcolm Turnbull‘s resignation from Parliament.
According to the ABC, Sharma is ahead with 51.2 per cent of the vote. Phelps is sitting on 48.8 per cent.
The first batches of postal votes have delivered Boothby and Wentworth to the Liberal Party today and the Coalition now have 75 seats. They still lead in Bass which could be the 76th seat and majority government. #ausvotes19
— Antony Green – elections (@AntonyGreenElec) May 19, 2019
Over in Bass, the Liberal’s Bridget Archer is just ahead on 50.4 per cent of the vote, to Labor’s 49.6 per cent.
Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese officially nominated himself for Labor’s top job this afternoon. Albo made the announcement in his home electorate of Grayndler, telling reporters / Australia that he believes he is the best person to lead Labor back into government.
“What you see is what you get with me,” he said during his presser. “For better or worse, I’m a bit rough at the edges but I think that Australians don’t want someone that just utters talking points so from time to time, I will not be as articulate as someone who’s simply reading from a script.”
Outgoing Labor leader, Bill Shorten, will remain interim chief until the party locks in his successor.