North West Ward (Darebin) by-election, 2025
- Leonardo Puglisi
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 15 hours ago
A by-election will take place to fill one vacancy on Darebin City Council.
Key details
Where: North West Ward (Darebin City Council) in Victoria
Why: Death of independent councillor Gaetano Greco in April
Electoral system: Full preferential voting and compulsory voting
Date: The official by-election date is 2 August, but voting will take place via post from mid-July until 1 August
History and past results
North-West was created as part of the introduction of single-member wards in Darebin in 2020.
Gaetano Greco had 39.8% of first preferences and defeated Reason Party-endorsed Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins with 60.5% on the two-candidate-preferred count.
Greco easily won re-election in 2024, winning 57.84% of the vote. The next-best candidate was Labor's Geraldine Wood with 20.1%, and there was no 2CP count provided.
The results from across Darebin saw Labor win five seats (enough for a majority) and the Greens win three.
Candidates
Labor, the Greens and the Victorian Socialists have all chosen new candidates. Former Darebin mayor Tim Laurence, who was once with Labor but narrowly lost North East Ward to them in 2024, is contesting the by-election as an independent. Leon Zembekis, a former Greens member who was expelled in 2024, has the donkey vote position.
Listed in ballot paper order:
Leon Zembekis (Independent)
Cat Rose (Victorian Socialists)
Angela Villella (Independent)
Tim Laurence (Independent)
George Kanjere (Independent)
Melanie Thewlis (Greens)
Daniel Scoullar (Labor)
Analysis
With no obvious successor, and with almost 60% of the vote last time going to Greco, it's tough to pick the favourite early on. The Victorian Socialists, following an increase in their statewide vote at the federal election and the announcement of their Australia-wide expansion, will want to keep that momentum going. Labor will also be encouraged by their federal election results in the seat of Cooper, and sitting member Ged Kearney is launching the campaign of Daniel Scoullar to "keep Darebin red".
Two independents have announced their campaigns. George Kanjere is a member of Save the Preston Market, saying he was "lucky enough to be beside him in this struggle at every step", and was the Victorian Socialists candidate for West Ward in 2020. Angela Villella has "pledge[d] to continue Gaetano's legacy" and is endorsed by the Darebin Progressive Independents Network. This sets up the chance of a split independent vote that pushes other candidates into the two-candidate-preferred count.
An unusual situation could see a Greens vs Socialists two-candidate-preferred result. This came close in South West Ward in 2022, where Labor (34.7%) were ahead of Greens (32.9%) who were narrowly ahead of the Socialists (32.4%). The Greens defeated Labor 53.2-46.8 on 2CP.
