LOL: In the upset of the election for the Coalition it looks like Treasurer and Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg has lost his seat of Kooyong to teal independent Dr Monique Ryan.
It was an incredibly tight race with just 30 to 40 votes between the two candidates at times.
Frydenberg hasn’t conceded yet and on Sunday morning Ryan said she had not yet received a congratulatory call from him, but late on election night he said a win for him would be “difficult”.
“While it’s mathematically possible that we win in Kooyong, it’s definitely difficult,” he told Liberal supporters late on Saturday.
“But while votes are still being counted, I wanted to take this opportunity to be here with Amy to say a few thank yous. Thank you to the people of Kooyong. Thank you to the people of Australia. Thank you to my party and to my colleagues. But most importantly, thank you to my family.”
Now with 70 per cent of the votes counted and Ryan picking up 54.4 per cent, it’s been called asa teal win.
This will be the first time a non-Liberal candidate has EVER held this seat.
The Treasurer held the once-safe blue seat since 2010. This election he held on by a 6.4 per cent margin which meant the seat was considered marginal.
The results have shown a 42 per cent swing to the independent candidate this time, with a 7 per cent swing away from Frydenberg and 11 per cent swing away for labor candidate Peter Lynch. This is huge.
It’s the vibe of the thing!
— Dr Monique Ryan (@Mon4Kooyong) May 21, 2022
Before running for parliament, incoming MP Ryan was the director of the neurology department at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.
Ryan was backed and well-funded by the Climate 200 group and she campaigned hard on pushing for climate action, gender equality and a federal anti-corruption body. All things the Coalition has either stood against or completely failed at.
Speculation grew over the final weeks of the election campaign that Frydenberg could actually lose and the Libs got pretty fkn desperate and even wheeled John Howard out to greet voters in the electorate AND sent them letters AND left them voice messages.
I guess it didn’t work. Funny that.
