Victorian State Election 2010: Evelyn

The candidates

Electorate analysis: One of seven seats gained by the Coalition from Labor at the 2006 election, Evelyn covers Melbourne’s north-eastern outskirts from Wonga Park east through Yering and Lilydale to Seville. Labor’s vote is somewhat higher in the south of the electorate, which encroaches on the outer suburbs of Lilydale, Mooroolbark and Mount Evelyn, than in the rural hamlets farther out. The electorate has had an uninterrupted existence going back to 1859, and has only been held by Labor from 1952 to 1958, 1982 to 1985 and 2002 to 2006. In 2002 Labor’s Heather McTaggart defeated sitting member Christine Fyffe by 233 votes after picking up a 12.1 per cent swing. Fyffe, who had previously been a winery owner and Yarra Ranges shire commissioner following the Kennett government’s local government revolution in 1994, recovered her seat in 2006 after picking up a 3.1 per cent swing.

Analysis written by William Bowe. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.

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