A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Wentworth took place on 20 October 2018 after the parliamentary resignation of the former Prime Minister of Australia and incumbent Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull.^[1]

Quick Facts Registered, Turnout ...

2018 Wentworth by-election

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The Division of Wentworth (NSW) in the House of Representatives
Registered	103,747
Turnout	78.13% 8.11
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Kerryn Phelps Dave Sharma Tim Murray Party Independent Liberal Labor Popular vote 22,219 32,795 8,777 Percentage 29.19% 43.08% 11.53% Swing 29.19 19.18 6.20 2CP 51.22% 48.78% 2CP change 51.22 18.96
Results by postcode
MP before election Malcolm Turnbull Liberal Elected MP Kerryn Phelps Independent

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The seat was won by independent candidate Kerryn Phelps, with a swing of almost twenty percent away from the Liberal Party.^[2] In early counting, just over an hour after the close of polls, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's election analyst Antony Green predicted Phelps would win the by-election.^[3][4] It is the first time since the inaugural 1901 election that the seat has not been represented by the Liberals, its predecessors, or party defectors.^[1]

This section may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (October 2018)

After his resignation, Turnbull left Australia for New York and did not campaign for the Liberal Party's candidate Sharma in the by-election. This decision was criticized by some in the party who had hoped Turnbull would assist in retaining the one-seat Parliamentary majority.^[12] While in New York, Turnbull told an audience: "When you stop being prime minister, that's it. There is no way I'd be hanging around like embittered Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott. Seriously, these people are like, sort of miserable, miserable ghosts."^[13] At the outset of Liberal preselection, he tweeted support for preselection of candidate Dave Sharma after Morrison had called for a female candidate.^[14] On October 18, he liked a tweet favouring Phelps.^[15] From New York, Turnbull lobbied his former colleagues to refer his leadership rival Peter Dutton to the High Court over his eligibility to sit in Parliament and tweeting "The point I have made to @ScottMorrisonMP and other colleagues is that given the uncertainty around Peter Dutton's eligibility, acknowledged by the Solicitor General, he should be referred to the High Court, as Barnaby was, to clarify the matter."^[16] In September 2018, it was reported that his son Alex Turnbull was supporting the Labor Party at the by-election.^[17]

When announcing her campaign, Kerryn Phelps urged voters to "put the Liberals last".^[18] She later published how-to-vote cards giving the Liberals a preference above Labor.^[19] Phelps became a prominent candidate in the by-election, with it being suggested that her preferences would be able to get Sharma over the line.^[20]

During the 2018 Wentworth by-election, after independent candidate Phelps directed her preferences to the Liberal candidate Sharma, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) adopted the strategy of "running dead". They hoped that their candidate, Tim Murray, would secure third place in the election, and that ALP preferences would then be redirected to Phelps to increase her chances of winning the seat.^[21][22]

The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, backed independent candidate Licia Heath, despite having worked with Phelps on the City of Sydney council.^[23]

On 26 September 2018 Sharma's campaign team was accused by other candidates of removing their campaign posters and replacing them with Sharma's posters.^[24]

On 7 October, The Sunday Telegraph reported allegations that Katter's Australian Party candidate Robert Callanan was a former director of a company associated with a brothel, leading Callanan to be disendorsed by the party.^[25]

On 10 October, part of the Ruddock review into religious freedoms in Australia was leaked.^[26]

Former Liberal Party leader and former MP for Wentworth John Hewson publicly said the seat is "ripe for protest vote", and urged constituents to vote against the Liberal Party, especially due to its lack of climate change policies.^[27][28]

On 15 October, Scott Morrison announced a review of whether Australia's embassy in Israel should be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.^[29] Morrison also announced funding of $2 million for a surf lifesaving club in the electorate, and $2.2 million for security at Jewish community venues and events.^[30]

In the last week of the campaign, an email was sent to hundreds of Wentworth constituents which falsely reported that Phelps was withdrawing from the by-election due to being diagnosed with HIV. The email then encouraged the recipient to give their first preference vote to the Liberal candidate Sharma and to remove Phelps' campaign posters. An investigation into the email revealed that it was likely sent from one of 500,000 Dodo and iPrimus email addresses. Sharma and the Liberal Party condemned the email and denied any involvement.^[31]

Key dates in relation to the by-election were:^[1][32]

• Monday, 17 September 2018 – Issue of writ
• Monday, 24 September 2018 – Close of electoral rolls (8pm)
• Thursday, 27 September 2018 – Close of nominations (12 noon)
• Friday, 28 September 2018 – Declaration of nominations (12 noon)
• Tuesday, 2 October 2018 – Start of early voting
• Saturday, 20 October 2018 – Polling day (8am to 6pm)
• Friday, 2 November 2018 – Last day for receipt of postal votes
• Wednesday, 26 December 2018 – Last day for return of writs

The first public opinion poll of the by-election, conducted by ReachTEL during the evening of Monday 27 August 2018, produced a tied 50-50 two-party-preferred result between Liberal and Labor, which represented a massive 17.7% swing from Liberal to Labor since the previous election.^[41] Election analyst Antony Green partially attributed the size of the swing to the loss of Turnbull's significant personal vote.^[42] On 16 October, it was reported that the Liberal party's internal polling showed data that represented a 55% Phelps to 45% Sharma two-candidate-preferred vote result.^[43]

At 7:18pm AEDT, just over an hour after the close of polls,^[46] the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's psephologist Antony Green predicted independent candidate Kerryn Phelps to win the by-election,^[3][4] although the margin of victory for Phelps tightened as pre-poll and postal votes were counted.^[47]

It is the first time since the inaugural 1901 election that the seat has not been represented by the Liberals, its predecessors, or party defectors.^[1][3] The outcome saw the Liberal–National Coalition slip further into minority government, holding only 74 seats out of 150 in the House of Representatives,^[48] having lost majority government two months earlier when Nationals MP Kevin Hogan moved to the crossbench while continuing his confidence and supply support.^[6]

The by-election is credited with highlighting the health concerns for refugee children detained in Nauru to the Morrison government's attention, and subsequently transporting some of them to Australia for medical treatment.^[49]

• Electoral results for the Division of Wentworth
• 2018 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills
• List of Australian federal by-elections