Labor Party tops Peninsula voting
The Labor Party recorded more votes than any other party on the Peninsula in the recent council elections.
Results from Peninsula polling booths have been released by the State Electoral Commission.
The Labor Party gained 4790 votes, 21 per cent of the 22,782 formal votes cast on the Peninsula.
Central Coast First came a close second with 4396 votes (19 per cent).
None of the other parties recorded more than 3000.
Third most votes went to the Liberal Party with 2588 (11 per cent).
Chris Holstein gained 2087 (nine per cent) and he was followed by The Greens with 1526 (seven per cent).
Robert Bell came next with 1404.
The remaining vote counts were Save Our Suburbs 1246, Jenny Phillips 1165, Craig Doyle 451 and Kevin Wills 83.
Compared to results across the rest of Gosford City, independent Jenny Phillips fared much better on the Peninsula, especially Ettalong, Empire Bay, Umina and Woy Woy public schools.
The Greens were fairly consistent across most polling booths on the Peninsula, gaining approximately seven per cent of the vote at most booths, reflecting their result across the rest of Gosford.
Independent Chris Holstein was neck and neck with the Liberal Party in most Peninsula polling booths, collecting around a third of his votes from the area.
Central Coast First's success mirrored its success across the rest of the Central Coast, but it received the most votes at Ettalong, Empire Bay, Umina Library, Umina Public and Woy Woy Bay.
Labor came out on top at Booker Bay, Hardys Bay, Patonga, Pretty Beach, Umina High and Umina Uniting Church and all of the Woy Woy polling booths except Woy Woy Bay.
Independent Robert Bell took almost a third of the votes at Pearl Beach polling booth, getting 97 out of 302 votes cast.
He was similarly successful at Pretty Beach, but was a distant fourth if not fifth at most Umina and Woy Woy polling booths, where the majority of voters went.
Voting for independent Kevin Wills was on a par with the rest of the municipality.
Independent Craig Doyle was largely ignored by Peninsula voters, barely getting three per cent of the vote at any polling booth, although his numbers were slightly higher at Woy Woy and Umina.
Just over 92 000 votes were cast for Gosford Council, and over 10 000 were informal votes.
Of the formal votes, Central Coast first took nearly 19 per cent, Labor 17 per cent, Liberals nearly 16 per cent, and Chris Holstein nearly 12 per cent followed by Robert Bell, The Greens, Craig Doyle, Save our Suburbs, Jenny Phillips and Kevin Wills.
The new Council will meet on Monday, April 19 to elect a new Mayor.
Chris Holstein, Malcolm Brooks from the Liberal Party and Laurie Maher from Central Coast First have declared their intention to run.
The new council will hold its first official meeting on Tuesday, April 20.
The council will comprise Chris Holstein, Craig Doyle, Robert Bell, The Green's Terri Latella, Liberals Malcolm Brooks and Trevor Drake, Labor's Jim McFayden and Vicki Scott and Central Coast First's Laurie Maher and Peter Hale.
Alison Branley, April 16