Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Hunter

2021 Cessnock City Council election
All 12 seats on Cessnock City Council; 7 seats needed for a majority
Largest party before election; Labor;	Subsequent largest party ; Labor;

This is a list of results for the 2021 New South Wales local elections in the Hunter Region.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Cessnock

Cessnock City Council is composed of four wards electing three councillors, each, as well as a directly-elected mayor. At the 2016 election, the Labor Party won a majority with seven councillors and the mayoralty.^[5]

Although Labor still won the largest number of seats, the party lost its majority on council.^[5] Incumbent B Ward councillor Ian Olsen's "Olsen Independents" group contested all four wards for the first time, winning one seat in each.^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Cessnock results

2021 New South Wales local elections: Cessnock^[5]
Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	15,136	42.5	−6.2	5	2
	Olsen Independents	8,908	25.0	+18.7	4	3
	Liberal	7,676	21.6	−0.9	3
	Greens	3,509	9.9	+2.8	0
	Independent	389	1.1		0	1
Formal votes		35,618	93.99
Informal votes		2,274	6.01
Total		37,892	100.00

A Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: A Ward^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor	1. Jay Suvaal 2. James Hawkins (elected) 3. Logan Templeton	3,273	35.7
	Olsen Independents	1. Jessica Jurd (elected) 2. Julianne Foster 3. Joshua Olsen	2,587	28.2
	Liberal	1. Paul Dunn (elected) 2. Kean Miles 3. Robyn Strengers	1,939	21.2
	Greens	1. Llynda Nairn 2. Elizabeth Hilton 3. Jane Mowatt	988	10.8
	Independent	Allan Stapleford	389	4.2
Total formal votes			9,176	92.8
Informal votes			713	7.2
Turnout				83.6

B Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: B Ward^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor	1. Anthony Burke (elected) 2. Jeffrey Crebert 3. Tallen Howson	3,146	39.9
	Olsen Independents	1. Ian Olsen (elected) 2. Luke Bozic 3. Tim Little	2,512	31.8
	Liberal	1. John Moores (elected) 2. Jacqueline LaFrance 3. Daniel Ebert	1,630	20.7
	Greens	1. Louise Ihlein 2. Vicki Heath 3. James Ryan	605	7.7
Total formal votes			7,893	94.1
Informal votes			495	5.9
Turnout				82.4

C Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: C Ward^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor	1. Anne-Marie Sander (elected) 2. Sophie Palmowski 3. Kim Smith	4,180	43.8
	Liberal	1. Karen Jackson (elected) 2. Robert Peace 3. John Fagg	2,375	24.9
	Olsen Independents	1. Daniel Watton (elected) 2. Leonie Allan 3. Eric Olsen	2,047	21.4
	Greens	1. Georgina Thompson 2. Penny Kelly 3. Denis Rothwell	950	9.9
Total formal votes			9,552	94.6
Informal votes			547	5.4
Turnout				83.2

D Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: D Ward^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor	1. Rosa Grine (elected) 2. Mitchell Hill (elected) 3. Gregory Tisdell	4,537	50.4
	Olsen Independents	1. Paul Paynter (elected) 2. Eliza Faustini 3. Adam Robinson	1,762	19.6
	Liberal	1. Harold Slade 2. Sharon Davson 3. Ruth Slade	1,732	19.3
	Greens	1. Janet Murray 2. Richard Clausen 3. Averil Drummond	966	10.7
Total formal votes			8,997	94.5
Informal votes			519	5.5
Turnout				84.5

Dungog

2021 New South Wales local elections: Dungog^[10]
Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Independent	6,135	100.0	6
Formal votes		6,135	95.33
Informal votes		300	4.67
Total		6,435	100.0

A Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: A Ward^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Dowling (elected)	828	41.7
	Independent	Michael Tobin (elected)	604	30.4
	Independent	Stephen "Sparrow" Farrow	291	14.6
	Independent	John Connors	264	13.3
Total formal votes			1,987	95.6
Informal votes			91	4.4
Turnout			2,078	87.4

B Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: B Ward^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Stephen Low (elected)	946	44.9
	Independent	Jessica Clark (elected)	754	35.8
	Independent	Alan Green	407	19.3
Total formal votes			2,107	95.7
Informal votes			94	4.3
Turnout			2,201	86.7

C Ward

2021 New South Wales local elections: C Ward^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Digby Rayward (elected)	965	47.3
	Independent	Bradley Bale (elected)	613	30.0
	Independent	Peter Millynn	463	22.7
Total formal votes			2,041	46.7
Informal votes			115	5.3
Turnout			2,156	85.7

Lake Macquarie

2021 New South Wales local elections: Lake Macquarie^[11]
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Change
	Labor	50,340	39.2	6	1
	Liberal	33,078	25.7	3
	Lake Mac Independents	24,922	19.4	3
	Greens	12,571	9.8	0
	Independent	4,661	3.6	0
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	29,80	2.3	0
Formal votes		128,552

East Ward

Elected councillor		Party
	Adam Shultz	Labor
	Nick Jones	Liberal
	Kate Warner	LMI
	Christine Buckley	Labor

2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: East Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor		17,397	41.8
	Liberal		10,997	26.4
	Lake Mac Independents		6,884	16.6
	Greens		3,675	8.8
	Independent (Group A)		2,438	5.9
	Independent	Alan Ellis	202	0.5
Total formal votes			41,593	94.7
Informal votes			2,311	5.3
Turnout			43,904	85.2

North Ward

Elected councillor		Party
	Brian Adamthwaite	Labor
	Jack Antcliff	Liberal
	Colin Grigg	LMI
	Keara Conroy	Labor

2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: North Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor		18,014	42.6
	Liberal		9,237	21.8
	Lake Mac Independents		6,485	15.3
	Greens		5,007	11.8
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers		2,980	7.0
	Independent	Bryce Ham	593	1.4
Total formal votes			42,316	95.2
Informal votes			2,147	4.8
Turnout			44,463	85.5

West Ward

Elected councillor		Party
	David Belcher	Labor
	Jason Pauling	Liberal
	Luke Cubis	LMI
	Madeline Bishop	Labor

2021 New South Wales mayoral elections: West Ward
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labor		14,929	33.4
	Liberal		12,844	28.8
	Lake Mac Independents		11,553	25.9
	Greens		3,889	8.7
	Independent	Rosmairi Dawson	1,428	3.2
Total formal votes			44,643	94.4
Informal votes			2,665	5.6
Turnout			47,308	82.0

Incumbent councillor Wendy Harrison (Independent Lake Alliance) did not recontest

Maitland

Newcastle

Port Stephens

Port Stephens results

2021 New South Wales local elections: Port Stephens^[12]
Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent	21,335	45.9	−36.7	4
	Labor	19,372	41.6	+24.2	4	3
	Liberal	4,255	9.1	+3.6^[b]	1	1
	Greens	1,565	3.4	+3.4	0
Formal votes		46,527	93.8
Informal votes		3,073	6.2
Turnout		49,600	86.1

Central

Elected councillor		Party
	Jason Wells	Labor
	Chris Doohan	Independent (Group B)
	Steve Tucker	Independent (Group A)

2021 New South Wales local elections: Central Ward^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent (Group B)		4,686	28.8
	Independent (Group A)		4,226	25.9
	Labor		5,618	34.5	+19.6
	Greens		1,565	9.6	+9.6
	Independent	Bill Doran	194	1.2
Total formal votes			16,289	92.7	+2.4
Informal votes			1,286	7.3	−2.4
Turnout			17,575	86.9	+1.6

East

Elected councillor		Party
	Leah Anderson	Labor
	Glen Dunkley	Independent
	Matthew Bailey	Liberal

2021 New South Wales local elections: East Ward^[12]
Party		Votes	%	±%
	Labor	5,850	39.5	+31.6
	Independent	4,708	31.8
	Liberal	4,255	28.7	+12.0
Total formal votes		14,813	95.7	+2.5
Informal votes		669	4.3	−2.5
Turnout		15,482	84.8	+0.9

West

Elected councillor		Party
	Arnott Giacomo	Labor
	Peter Francis	Labor
	Peter Kafer	Independent (Group A)

2021 New South Wales local elections: West Ward^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor		7,904	51.2	+22.7
	Independent (Group A)		6,608	42.8
	Independent	Danielle Le Mottee	266	1.7
	Independent	Monique Malone	239	1.5
	Independent	Christopher Baguley	209	1.4
	Independent	Andrew Dole	199	1.3
Total formal votes			15,425	93.4	+0.2
Informal votes			1,088	6.6	−0.2
Turnout			16,513	86.1	+2.2

Incumbent councillor Paul Le Mottee (Independent Liberal) was unable to recontest due to a clerical error^[13]^[14]

Singleton

Upper Hunter

Notes

^ Excluding the mayor, who is directly-elected.
^ Compared with the Independent Liberal result at the 2017 election.

References

^ "Registers of groups of candidates". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
^ "Local Government Register of Groups of Candidates" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2023.
^ "Local Government Register of Candidates - in Name order" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2023.
^ "2021 NSW Local Government Elections". ABC News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "City of Cessnock". ABC News. 4 December 2021. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "If you go to a polling booth and there is no one there handing out my "How to Votes" then take this with you and it shows you what to do". Facebook. Ian Olsen Independent Cessnock Ward B Councillor. 4 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ Sellars, Krystal (20 September 2016). "Nine new councillors elected to Cessnock City Council". The Cessnock Advertiser. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2024. followed by Ian Olsen's independent team on 26.79%
^ Sellars, Krystal (9 February 2021). "Cessnock councillor Ian Olsen to run for mayor, with candidates in each ward". The Cessnock Advertiser. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ "CESSNOCK INDEPENDENTS". Cessnock Independents. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024. Having won four seats in the previous election, the Independent team aims to win a majority during this coming election in order to make important changes
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Dungog". ABC News.
^ "City of Lake Macquarie". ABC News.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Port Stephens". ABC News.
^ "Port Stephens west ward councillor Paul Le Mottee ruled out of local government election due to clerical error". Port Stephens Examiner.
^ "Bruce MacKenzie's 31 running mates". The Standard.

[mayor-5] Excluding the mayor, who is directly-elected.

[14] Compared with the Independent Liberal result at the 2017 election.

[1] "Registers of groups of candidates". New South Wales Electoral Commission.

[2] "Local Government Register of Groups of Candidates" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. 29 November 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2023.

[nameorder-3] "Local Government Register of Candidates - in Name order" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2023.

[4] "2021 NSW Local Government Elections". ABC News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023.

[cessnock-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "City of Cessnock". ABC News. 4 December 2021. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[7] "If you go to a polling booth and there is no one there handing out my "How to Votes" then take this with you and it shows you what to do". Facebook. Ian Olsen Independent Cessnock Ward B Councillor. 4 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[8] Sellars, Krystal (20 September 2016). "Nine new councillors elected to Cessnock City Council". The Cessnock Advertiser. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2024. followed by Ian Olsen's independent team on 26.79%

[9] Sellars, Krystal (9 February 2021). "Cessnock councillor Ian Olsen to run for mayor, with candidates in each ward". The Cessnock Advertiser. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[10] "CESSNOCK INDEPENDENTS". Cessnock Independents. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024. Having won four seats in the previous election, the Independent team aims to win a majority during this coming election in order to make important changes

[dungog-11] "Dungog". ABC News.

[12] "City of Lake Macquarie". ABC News.

[portstephens-13] "Port Stephens". ABC News.

[15] "Port Stephens west ward councillor Paul Le Mottee ruled out of local government election due to clerical error". Port Stephens Examiner.

[16] "Bruce MacKenzie's 31 running mates". The Standard.

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