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Labor has confirmed it will not field a candidate in the upcoming Cook by-election, triggered by the resignation of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
It is one of the safest Liberal Party seats in the country, with Mr Morrison taking 55 per cent of the primary vote in the May 2022 election.
Cook’s Labor supporters hoped that Simon Earle, who stood in the last election, would be chosen again.
But, in a statement to Sky News, the party confirmed it would not be on the ballot paper in the April 13 by-election.
“Following extensive consultations within the party, including with the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party and our valued grassroots members, the NSW Labor Party will not field a candidate in the upcoming Cook by-election,” they said. -they declared.
Labor has confirmed it will not field a candidate in the upcoming Cook by-election, triggered by the resignation of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Earlier this month, Pollster Kos Samaras said it would be a few more election cycles – if ever – before Labor believed it had a chance of winning Cook.
“There’s always the philosophy that you should always be on the ballot paper, but you can understand why they probably wouldn’t want to be there because it’s such a stable electorate for the Coalition,” he said. declared.
“Scott Morrison got 55 percent of the primary vote (in 2022), and Labor’s primary vote was very low (25 percent).
“It will be years before this seat potentially becomes a problem for the Coalition, if it ever does.
Simon Kennedy is the Liberal candidate for the electorate in the by-election
“If Labor stands up and they have momentum against them, then it’s going to create nerves out of nothing because they could stand up and not spend a single penny and still have a speech against them. I think that there are definitely disadvantages.
The Liberal Party has shortlisted former McKinsey partner Simon Kennedy to run for the party seat.
Mr Kennedy, who joined the electorate earlier this month after winning preselection, narrowly lost to Labor in the seat of Bennelong in the 2022 election.
NSW Labor has been contacted for comment.