2009 Bradfield by-election

2009 Bradfield by-election

← 2007 5 December 2009 2010 →
Division of Bradfield
First party Second party   Candidate Paul Fletcher Susie Gemmell Party Liberal Greens Popular vote 39,815 17,799 Percentage 56.44% 25.23% Swing 2.63 13.97 TPP 64.81% 35.19% TPP swing 1.36 35.19
Location of Bradfield within metropolitan Sydney
MP before election Brendan Nelson Liberal Elected MP Paul Fletcher Liberal

The 2009 Bradfield by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Bradfield on 5 December 2009.^[1] This was triggered as a result of the resignation of former minister and ex-Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson.^[2] The by-election was held on the same day as the Higgins by-election.

The by-election was contested on the same boundaries drawn for Bradfield at the 2007 federal election. At that election, the Liberal Party won the seat over the Labor Party with a 63.45 per cent of the vote on a two-party-preferred basis, making it the safest metropolitan seat in Australia for the Liberals. At the time, the 2007 result was the second-closest in the seat's 60-year history (after the 1952 Bradfield by-election against an independent). The Liberal candidate had never needed to go to preferences to win the seat.^[3]

The writ for the by-election was issued on 30 October, with the rolls closing on 9 November. Candidate nominations closed on 12 November, and were announced the following day. At 22 candidates, it ties with the 1992 Wills by-election for the most candidates to contest a federal lower house seat.^[4]

Both the Bradfield and Higgins by-elections were the last by-elections for the House of Representatives until the Griffith by-election held in February 2014.