Clover Moore has claimed victory for a historic sixth term as lord mayor for the City of Sydney.
Having first taken on the role in 2004, Moore accepted another four years in the top job during a post-election party at the ArtHouse Hotel last night.
She also shared a message on social media, thanking her team and supporters following the NSW local council elections.
“Thank you, Sydney! I am grateful for your support, and excited about continuing the work to ensure our city is the best place to live, work in and visit,” the Instagram caption read.
The 78-year-old was up against nine other candidates but appeared to win comfortably, with a reported 37 per cent of first preferences, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“There was a sense of real desperation about trying to get me out of Town Hall,” Moore said in her speech, according to the publication.
“That was expressed in the candidates’ forums, which I think were pretty nasty.
“No one really talked about fresh ideas or new policy, they were just attacking me. It was a pretty weird campaign, actually.”
Counting of votes was paused at 10pm yesterday and will resume on Monday, as the NSW Electoral Commission focuses on “the health and safety of staff and scrutineers”.
“Our staff will have a very long day today after starting early and are about to start a long night of counting,” Acting NSW Electoral Commissioner Dr Matthew Phillips said.
“In line with our work health and safety principles, staff will get a well-deserved break tomorrow before counting resumes on Monday.”
More than 1.3 million NSW voters had cast their ballots early in pre-polling, with about five million voters turning up to polling stations across the state yesterday.
This year’s local council elections were different to any other, after the Liberal party missed the deadline to nominate more than 130 candidates across 14 local councils.
Smaller parties were hoping to take advantage of the debacle, with some candidates across five councils and nine individual wards’ ballots uncontested.
