2012 Townsville City Council election

2012 Townsville City Council election

28 April 2012

Mayor

First party Second party Third party   TF IND Candidate Jenny Hill Dale Last Jeff Jimmieson Party Team Jenny Hill Townsville First Independent Popular vote 28,508 26,898 15,301 Percentage 33.74% 31.83% 18.11% Swing 33.74 31.83 18.11 2CP 51.58% 48.42% 2CP swing 51.58 48.42

Mayor before election Les Tyrell Team Tyrell Subsequent Mayor Jenny Hill Team Jenny Hill

Councillors

All 11 members on the City Council (including the Mayor) 6 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Townsville First Dale Last 7 +7 Team Jenny Hill Jenny Hill 2 +2 Independent N/A 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2012 Townsville City Council election was held on 28 April 2012 to elect a mayor and 10 councillors to the City of Townsville. The election was held as part of the statewide local elections in Queensland, Australia.

Incumbent mayor Les Tyrell chose to retire from politics and did not recontest his position. Councillor Jenny Hill narrowly won the mayoralty with 51.58% of the vote after preferences, however Townsville First won a majority on council.

Background

See also: 2008 Townsville City Council election

At the previous election in 2008, the Labor Party, which had controlled the council for 32 years − the longest-serving Labor administration in Australia − was defeated in a landslide by the conservative Team Tyrell, which won all but one of the councillor positions. Incumbent mayor Tony Mooney was among the ALP members defeated.

Less than a year after being elected, Team Tyrell councillor Rob McCahill announced his resignation on 9 October 2008, claiming that a "political witch-hunt" was threatening to destroy his family. As the council was unsubdivided, the entire LGA had to vote in the by-election on 22 November, which was won by independent candidate Trevor Roberts. Team Tyrell did not contest the election.

Changes to the council's structure were brought in for the 2012 election, with 10 single-member wards (also known as divisions) introduced.

Candidates

Incumbent mayor Les Tyrell announced on 27 October 2011 that he would retire from politics after 32 years, which included 17 years as Thuringowa mayor.

Councillor Dale Last, who was elected on the Team Tyrell ticket in 2008, announced he would run for mayor and lead the Townsville First group, which ran candidates − including six serving Team Tyrell councillors − in all wards. Trevor Roberts also stood for the group.

Labor did not contest the election. Jenny Hill, the only sitting Labor member on council, also ran for the mayoralty and formed Team Jenny Hill.

Results

Mayor

This section is an excerpt from 2012 Queensland mayoral elections § Townsville.[edit]

2012 Queensland mayoral elections: Townsville

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Jenny Hill	Jenny Hill	28,508	33.74	+33.74
	Townsville First	Dale Last	26,898	31.83	+31.83
	Independent	Jeff Jimmieson	15,301	18.11	+18.11
	Independent	Brendan Porter	12,277	14.53	+14.53
	Independent	Harry Patel	1,516	1.79	+1.79
Total formal votes			84,500	96.34	−2.37
Informal votes			3,207	3.66	+2.37
Turnout			87,707	80.05
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Team Jenny Hill	Jenny Hill	32,946	51.58	+51.58
	Townsville First	Dale Last	30,928	48.42	+48.42
	Team Jenny Hill gain from Team Tyrell		Swing

• Incumbent mayor Les Tyrell (Team Tyrell) did not recontest