Teal edges ahead as Libs fear Bradfield is slipping away

Sydney Morning Herald

20-05-2025

Teal candidate Nicolette Boele has edged in front in the battle for Bradfield with a wafer-thin lead of 41 votes over Liberal opponent Gisele Kapterian as the count drags on for the north shore seat.
Boele made the gain after being behind by 43 votes when counting resumed on Monday. Kapterian had been in the lead for almost a fortnight thanks to postal votes largely falling in her favour, but her margin tightened significantly late last week.
On Monday, final postal votes went largely Boele's way. A full recount for the seat means an official declaration of the result in Bradfield might still not happen until next month.
If the final margin is fewer than 100 votes after the full distribution of preferences, which is now under way, a recount will be conducted in line with Australian Electoral Commission policy.
The last – and only – time a recount changed the result in an election was for the Victorian seat of McEwen in 2007 when, after the first count, Labor Rob Mitchell won by six votes. Following the recount, Liberal Fran Bailey won by 12. This ended up in the Court of Disputed Returns and the eventual result was a Bailey win by 31 ballots.
Mitchell went on to win the seat at the 2010 election and is still the MP for McEwen.
Liberal sources watching the count closely were starting to despair on Monday as the vote showed signs of slipping away from them. Boele backers maintained it was too close to call.