Electoral district of Essendon

The electoral district of Essendon is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It was first created in 1904 after the abolition of the larger Essendon and Flemington electorate, and covers some of the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, including Essendon, Moonee Ponds and Ascot Vale.

Essendon
VictoriaLegislative Assembly
Location of Essendon (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
StateVictoria
Dates current1904–1955
1958–present
MPDanny Pearson
PartyLabor Party
NamesakeEssendon
Electors48,427 (2018)
Area24 km2 (9.3 sq mi)
DemographicMetropolitan
Electorates around Essendon:
Niddrie Broadmeadows Pascoe Vale
Niddrie Essendon Pascoe Vale
Footscray Melbourne Brunswick

The electorate was abolished in 1955, and Ascot Vale created, but in 1958, Ascot Vale was abolished and Essendon re-created.[1]

Essendon was held by the Liberals during the Bolte and Hamer governments, usually due to preferences from the Democratic Labor Party. The Liberals also won the seat after the Kennett landslide of 1992.

Nowadays, the electorate lies within the Labor heartland of western and northern Melbourne, and is considered to be a relatively safe seat for Labor. Judy Maddigan regained the seat for Labor at the 1996 election and retained the seat until her retirement in 2010, when it was won by the then Labor MLC, Justin Madden.

Following the 2012–2013 redivision of State electoral boundaries, Essendon lost electors from Aberfeldie to the electoral district of Niddrie and gained electors from Flemington and Travancore in the electoral district of Melbourne.[2]

Justin Madden retired at the 2014 election and Danny Pearson of the Labor Party was elected in his stead.

Members for Essendon

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First incarnation (1904–1955)
Member Party Term
  William Watt Liberal 1904–1914
  Maurice Blackburn Labor 1914–1917
  Thomas Ryan Nationalist 1917–1924
  Frank Keane Labor 1924–1927
  Arthur Drakeford Labor 1927–1932
  James Dillon United Australia 1932–1943
  Samuel Merrifield Labor 1943–1945
  Arthur Drakeford Jr Labor 1945–1947
  Allen Bateman Liberal 1947–1950
  George Fewster Labor 1950–1955
  Labor (Anti-Communist) 1955
Second incarnation (1958–present)
Member Party Term
  Sir Kenneth Wheeler Liberal   1958–1979
  Barry Rowe Labor 1979–1992
  Ian Davis Liberal 1992–1996
  Judy Maddigan Labor 1996–2010
  Justin Madden Labor 2010–2014
  Danny Pearson Labor 2014–present

Election results

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2022 Victorian state election: Essendon[3][4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Danny Pearson 17,196 41.1 −5.1
Liberal Angelo Baronessa 12,331 29.5 +1.9
Greens Jared Prentis 6,344 15.1 −1.7
Victorian Socialists Daniel Nair Dadich 1,951 4.7 +4.7
Animal Justice Gayle Williams 1,173 2.8 +2.8
Reason Nicholas Hope 1,018 2.4 +2.4
Freedom David Wright 1,006 2.4 +2.4
Family First Margaret Muir 848 2.0 +2.0
Total formal votes 41,867 96.0 +0.7
Informal votes 1,761 4.0 −0.7
Turnout 43,628 88.1 +0.1
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Danny Pearson 26,146 62.5 −3.4
Liberal Angelo Baronessa 15,721 37.5 +3.4
Labor hold Swing −3.4

Graphical summary

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Two-party-preferred vote results in Essendon

References

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  1. ^ "Re-Member (Former Members)". State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Essendon District profile". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  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. ^ Essendon District results, Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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