2008 Port Macquarie state by-election

2008 Port Macquarie state by-election

18 October 2008

First party Second party   IND Candidate Peter Besseling Leslie Williams Party Independent National Popular vote 15,003 14,061 Percentage 35.94% 33.69% Swing 35.94 14.24 TPP 54.52% 45.48% TPP swing 54.52 23.70

Location in New South Wales

MP before election Rob Oakeshott Independent Elected MP Peter Besseling Independent

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Port Macquarie on 18 October 2008.^[1] This was triggered by the resignation of independent MP Rob Oakeshott who was elected to the federal seat of Lyne at a by-election the previous month.^[2]

The writ for the Port Macquarie by-election was issued on 29 August, which was also when the rolls closed. Candidate nominations closed on 18 September. The by-election was contested on the same boundaries drawn for Port Macquarie at the 2007 state election. At that election, the independent MP won the seat over the Nationals by a two-party preferred margin of 78.2% to 21.8%.