THE POLL BLUDGER
New South Wales Legislative Assembly Election 2007

BEGA
Liberal 4.7%

Bega is located in the south-eastern corner of the state, covering a 200 kilometre stretch of coastline that ends at the Victorian border. It extends inland only as far as the Great Dividing Range, the major population centres being Bega, Batemans Bay and Eden. The redistribution has shifted the electorate southwards, adding 4000 voters at Eden, Towamba and Wyndham immediately north of the border (from Bega) and removing 7000 voters around Bawley Point at the northern coastal end (to South Coast). The seat has been in Liberal hands since its creation in 1988, 28-year-old Andrew Constance (left) succeeding inaugural member Russell Smith in 2003. A former Young Liberals president and public relations consultant, Constance was reckoned by local critics to be a "blow-in" from Sydney, prompting an independent challenge from Eurobodalla shire president Chris Vardon, who complained he had been told not to bother standing for Liberal preselection. A month before the election, Vardon claimed the Liberals were so spooked by his level of support that state director Scott Morrison had approached him to replace Constance as their candidate. Among Vardon's backers was Russell Smith's wife Lesley, who was expelled from the Liberal Party for handing out Vardon's how-to-vote cards. However, Vardon scored only 16.3 per cent of the vote and Constance comfortably survived a 3.2 per cent swing to Labor. He has since enjoyed a swift rise to the front bench, being given the disability services and ageing portfolios in November 2006. Labor has again nominated its candidate from 2003, school teacher Wilma Chinnock (right).

ASSESSMENT: Liberal retain