2021 Stretton state by-election

A by-election was held on 24 July 2021 for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Stretton following the death of Duncan Pegg.

2021 Stretton state by-election

← 2020 24 July 2021 2024 →

The district of Stretton in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
Registered33,961
Turnout77.4% Decrease 10.4
  First party Second party
 
Candidate James Martin Jim Bellos
Party Labor Liberal National
Popular vote 14,314 8,322
Percentage 56.4% 32.8%
Swing Decrease 0.2 Increase 2.6
2PP 63.9% 36.1%
2PP swing Decrease 0.9 Increase 0.9

Map of the Electoral district of Stretton since the 2017 state election

MP before election

Duncan Pegg
Labor

Elected MP

James Martin
Labor

Background

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Duncan Pegg was first elected at the 2015 election defeating incumbent Freya Ostapovitch on a swing of over 14%. Ostapovitch had won the previously safe seat for Labor during the Liberal National Party of Queensland landslide of the 2012 election. In subsequent elections, Pegg would increase the margin of Stretton back into safe territory for Labor and saw a nearly 5% swing to himself in the 2020 election. On 22 April 2021, Pegg announced that he would be resigning from his seat to focus on his health revealing that he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and that it was a terminal illness.[1] Pegg's death was announced by his electorate office on 10 June 2021.[2]

Two-party-preferred vote in Stretton, 2009–2020
Election 2009 2012 2015 2017 2020
  Labor 59.50% 40.45% 54.98% 59.90% 64.82%
  Liberal National 40.50% 59.55% 45.02% 40.10% 35.18%
Swing +5.0 +19.03 +14.54 +4.6 +4.93
Government ALP LNP ALP ALP ALP

Key dates

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Date[3] Event
29 June 2021 Issue of the writ
5 July 2021 Close of electoral rolls
7 July 2021 Close of nominations
12 July 2021 Early voting begins
24 July 2021 Polling day

Candidates

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Candidates (in ballot paper order)[4]
  Greens Andrea Wildin Health worker and advocate
  Labor James Martin Electorate officer for Stretton[5]
  Liberal National Jim Bellos OAM APM Queensland Police Service sergeant and liaison officer[6]
  Informed Medical Options Jasmine Melhop Alternative medicine practitioner[7]
  Animal Justice Suzanne Clarke Animal and environmental advocate

Results

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2021 Stretton state by-election[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor James Martin 14,314 56.39 −0.20
Liberal National Jim Bellos 8,322 32.78 +2.58
Greens Andrea Wildin 1,654 6.52 −2.20
Informed Medical Options Jasmine Melhop 616 2.43 +2.43
Animal Justice Suzanne Clarke 478 1.88 +1.88
Total formal votes 25,384 96.61 +0.03
Informal votes 891 3.39 −0.03
Turnout 26,275 77.37 −10.43
Two-party-preferred result
Labor James Martin 16,244 63.94 −0.87
Liberal National Jim Bellos 9,160 36.06 +0.87
Labor hold Swing −0.87

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Riga, Rachel (22 April 2021). "Queensland Labor MP Duncan Pegg to retire from politics to focus on cancer battle". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Queensland MP Duncan Pegg dies after cancer fight". ABC News. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  3. ^ "2021 Stretton State By-election - Key Dates". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  4. ^ "2021 Stretton State By-election - Candidate Information". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  5. ^ Treacey, Alex (2 June 2021). "James Martin: Duncan Pegg staffer announced as Stretton candidate". Courier Mail. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. ^ Crockford, Toby (23 May 2021). "Queenslander of the Year, decorated cop to run for LNP in Stretton byelection". Brisbane Times. Brisbane, Queensland. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Jasmine (Jazzy) Melhop". IMOP. Informed Medical Options Party Australia. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  8. ^ 2021 Stretton State By-election, ECQ.
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