THE POLL BLUDGER
Victorian Legislative Assembly Election 2006

WARRANDYTE
Liberal 6.4%

Warrandyte is located in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, from Ringwood north-east to Croydon North and north through Warrandyte to the Yarra River. The seat was won by the Liberals on its creation in 1976, changing hands in 1982 and back again in 1988. The Liberals have not been troubled since picking up a 13.9 per cent swing at the 1992 election that brought Jeff Kennett to power. Deputy Liberal leader Phil Honeywood, who had held the seat since 1988, announced his intention to retire in March in a move widely seen as a vote of no-confidence in then-leader Robert Doyle's electoral prospects. It was widely noted that Honeywood became the youngest Liberal in the Assembly when he entered it in 1988, and remained so when he left it 18 years later. The ensuing preselection developed as another battle in the war between the Kennett and Costello-Kroger camps. The former, including newly appointed party leader Ted Baillieu, threw their weight behind Peter Clarke, Melbourne city councillor, former state party vice-president and rival to Helen Kroger in the 2003 vote for the party presidency; the latter, including Phil Honeywood, successfully thwarted them by backing Commonwealth Bank finance manager Ryan Smith (right). Clarke's defeat led to complaints of dirt sheets, branch stacking and process manipulation which received a very sympathetic hearing in The Age.

ASSESSMENT: Liberal retain