Liberal candidate Tim Wilson has claimed the inner-Melbourne seat of Goldstein after a neck-in-neck race against teal independent Zoe Daniel.
The result still hung in the balance when voters went to sleep last night, however Wilson said he has now successfully unseated Daniel and reclaimed his electorate after losing it to the independent MP in 2022.
Wilson officially announced his victory during a triumphant speech in Brighton and said the result was proof of his campaign’s “tenacity” to claim Goldstein back.
“I am genuinely very proud to say that we are pleased to accept that we have won the seat of Goldstein back for the Liberal Party,” Wilson said, while holding back tears.
“We’ve been waiting since Saturday night to do that.”
The incoming Liberal MP said his 2022 defeat had been crushing but his team had built themselves back up from scratch.
“The reality is, three years ago we were written off,” Wilson said.
“Three years ago people said that Goldstein could not be won, that I was written off, that the Liberal party was written off in this part of the world, and that we would not overcome.”
He added: “While my name was on the ballot paper, we have won.”
Wilson said it was a privilege to win his seat back and return to public service.
He described his win as “unbelievable” after losing to Daniel three years ago.
“We started the process by listening, by engaging with the community, when everybody had written us off.”
Daniel is yet to officially concede her seat.
Wilson said he wasn’t sure if Daniel had reached out to his team yet as his phone was “blowing up”.
Daniel celebrated a victory on election night but later said the votes were still being counted.
A strong swing to Wilson in postal votes was enough to return him to parliament, with the Liberal ahead of Daniel 50.3 per cent to 49.7 per cent on two-party basis with more than 82 per cent of the vote counted.
9news.com.au has contacted Daniel’s office for comment.
