Electorate: Berowra
Margin: Liberal 10.3%
Location: Sydney North Shore, New South Wales
In a nutshell: Located in the Liberal Party’s northern Sydney heartland, the seat of Berowra has been safer for the party since its creation in 1969. Philip Ruddock has held the seat since 1993, when he came seeking refuge from his less electorally favourable stomping grounds around Parramatta.
The candidates
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STEVE EVANS
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Electorate analysis: Berowra covers affluent areas in Sydney’s north from Beecroft and Normanhurst in the south through Annangrove and Hornsby Heights to the Hawkesbury River in the north. Safe for the Liberals at all times since its creation, Philip Ruddock became member in 1993 after the abolition of his seat of Dundas, which was absorbed by neighbouring Parramatta (which Ruddock held between 1973 and 1977) and Bennelong. Ruddock’s ministerial portfolios of immigration and Attorney-General made him a key figure in the Howard government, and most have been surprised by his determination to remain in politics since its defeat. There were reports in late 2009 that the expansionist Right sub-faction associated with state upper house MP David Clarke had ambitious for the seat, to be realised through either Hunters Hill councillor Richard Quinn or former Young Liberals president Noel McCoy, but in the event neither nominated.
Analysis written by William Bowe. Read Bowe’s blog, The Poll Bludger.
