INDEPENDENT candidate for Wannon, Alex Dyson has officially conceded and contacted his main rival, incumbent Liberal Party MP, Dan Tehan to congratulate him on winning.

After more than a week of vote counting followed one of the closest Wannon election races in decades, Mr Dyson made the call on Monday night once it appeared that victory was out of reach.

“After a spirited campaign, it was the right thing to do to make the call,” Mr Dyson said.

“Ideally the official results would have been known much sooner, but as the votes are still being counted due to the tightness of the race, I decided it was in Wannon’s best interest to bow out and allow the member to get to work on addressing the many issues that were brought up with me throughout the campaign.”

Mr Tehan currently leads by 6641 votes on the two-candidate preferred (TCP) count (at the time of print), however, a full distribution of the TCP votes has not been finalised yet.

Counting of the ballot papers by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) remains ongoing, with the official result unlikely to be known for at least a few days.

The AEC restarted the count on Saturday night after the election on May 21, and switched from counting between the Labor and Liberal parties when it became clear that Mr Dyson had secured more first preference votes than the Labor Party’s Gilbert Wilson.

At age 33, Mr Dyson doubled his first preference vote count this time around from his first attempt in 2019 and overtook Mr Wilson for second position.

Mr Dyson received just under 20 per cent of first preferences, with a tally of 17,563 and a swing of +10.10 per cent.

Mr Dyson ran his campaign on issues of integrity, climate action, affordable housing, and a fair share of funding for the area, which struck a chord with locals.

“Dan was very gracious as always,” he said.

“We complimented each other on the spirit in which the campaign was run, and I wished him well for the next three years.”

“In the meantime, I also want to call on the Labor Government to support his efforts over the next term to support Wannon on a needs basis, and not allow partisan politics to allow our home to be left behind for a moment longer.

“I want to thank every single volunteer and voter who helped prove that a fresh voice for Wannon was not only possible, but with a strong positive campaign, something that could indeed be probable in 2025.”

Mr Tehan has held the seat since 2010 but suffered a swing of -6.08 per cent against him this time.

“The independent candidate Alex Dyson contacted me and conceded,” he said.

“It is both humbling and a great honour to continue serving the people of Wannon.”

EARLIER STORY

COUNTING of the two-candidate preferred (TCP) ballot papers by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has continued for the seat of Wannon, following the Federal Election on May 21, 2022.

Liberal Party incumbent MP, Dan Tehan, has held the seat since 2010 with a margin of 10.2 per cent from the last election in 2019 and sits poised to claim victory again despite a swing of -6.08 per cent.

Independent candidate, Alex Dyson, doubled his first preference vote count from his first campaign in 2019, overtaking the Australian Labor Party’s Gilbert Wilson for second position.

Mr Dyson received just under 20 per cent of first preferences with a tally of 17,122 and a swing of +10.44, while trailing just behind was Mr Wilson who received 19.06 per cent with a tally of 16,246 votes.

While first preference votes for all 94 polling booths in Wannon have been counted, a TCP is required as no candidate was able to secure more than 50 per cent of first preference votes.

Despite being able to form government nationally, the Labor Party had a swing against them of -6.88 per cent in Wannon.

AEC director of media & digital engagement, Evan Ekin-Smyth, advised that 22.86 per cent of ballot papers have had a TCP count undertaken.

 “An official result for Wannon will not be declared for a little while yet,” he said.