My results for Cotham Ward, Boroondara Council election

I stood as an independent candidate for Cotham Ward in the Boroondara Council elections counted (by postal vote) and Saturday 29/11 and Sunday 30/11. Here is my campaign blog.

The results have been declared -

Candidate	First preference votes
PERRYMAN, Benjie	814
BLOOM, David	2935
CAMPBELL, Peter	3229
BILA, Theo	2071

Candidate	Votes after distribution
BLOOM, David	5113
CAMPBELL, Peter	3936

For more details see

• http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/lgresults.html
• http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/boroondararesult2008.html

Even though I got the highest primary vote (for which I am pleased) David Bloom (Liberal, works in David Davis' office) got elected by the preference flow from the other two.

It was actually quite close - if Bila got ahead of Bloom then I would have been elected. I think it is a very good sign that so many people in Cotham ward voted for a sustainable future!

I would like to thank those who helped with leaflets and scrutineering. I would also like to thank the many people in the ward who contacted me during the campaign about local issues, and for their encouragement.

Also, it was a good result for Des Benson to come second as the Greens candidate in Studley Ward.

I understand that the overall result for Council is that 4 out of 9 are Liberals (or sympathisers) so they don't quite have a majority - unless they elect a Liberal Mayor who will have a casting vote.

Also, apparently Brad Miles (Bellevue Ward), while not a Liberal, opposes the Darebin - Yarra bike link bridge, so the Council decision to support this is now likely to be reversed. Hopefully this won't happen.