2021 New South Wales local elections

2021 New South Wales local elections

← 2016 ← 2017 4 December 2021 2024 →
2022 (re-runs) →
121 of the 128 local government areas in New South Wales
Registered	4,838,137
Turnout	83.05% ( 6.45pp)
First party Second party Third party   IND Leader N/A N/A N/A Party Independents Labor Liberal Seats won 776 188 127 Seat change 86 3 13 Popular vote 1,392,142 1,071,688 703,796 Percentage 33.73% 26.67% 17.52% Swing 2.05 1.05 7.99   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   OLC Leader No leader Paul Garrard Angela Vithoulkas Party Greens OLC Small Business Last election 4 Did not exist Seats before 5 2 Seats won 65 10 1 Seat change 11 5 1 Popular vote 355,196 72,942 12,244 Percentage 8.84% 1.81% 0.30% Swing 1.26 0.08 0.30   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   SFF AJP SAP Leader Robert Borsak No leader William Bourke Party SFF Animal Justice Sustainable Last election 2 0 Did not contest Seats before 2 0 0 Seats won 5 1 2 Seat change 3 1 2 Popular vote 12,053 9,724 7,308 Percentage 0.30% 0.24% 0.18% Swing 0.20 0.20 0.18
Largest party in each LGA

The 2021 New South Wales local elections were held on 4 December 2021 to elect the councils of 121 of the 128 local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums.^[1]

Previous referendums took three net councillors in three LGAS: Cabonne, Coonamble and Dungog.

The Liberal Party did not run in Kiama, North Sydney or Shoalhaven, however a number of party members chose to contest as independents.^[2]

Following the 2012 elections, the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 was introduced, leading to the amalgamations and mergers of a number of councils. This resulted in 79 councils being contested in 2016 and 46 2017. 2021 marked the first time in 9 years that the vast majority of councils were being contested at the same time.

The elections were scheduled to be held in September 2020, but as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia they were delayed until 4 September 2021. On 24 July 2021, it was announced the elections would again be delayed until 4 December 2021.^[3]

Two councils − Fairfield and Penrith − opted to use the services of the Australian Election Company, while all other elections were conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission.^[4]

The election for Norfolk Island Regional Council, which was meant to be held at the same time as New South Wales, was also postponed in 2020. It was later scheduled to be held in March 2021, however the council was suspended in February 2021 and eventually dismissed on 6 December 2021.^[5]

Lead Greens candidate for Orange, Melanie McDonell, announced on 21 May 2021 she would leave the Greens and stand on a "McDonell Team" independent ticket.^[6]

The following registered parties contested the elections. This does not include unregistered groups of independents:

• Animal Justice Party
• Greens
• Labor Party
• Liberal Democrats
• Liberal Party
• Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party
• Socialist Alliance
• Sustainable Australia Party
• The Small Business Party

In addition, a number of local government-registered parties also contested the elections.^[7]

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2021 elections.

Party			Votes	%	Swing[13]	Seats[a]	Change
	Independents		1,392,142	33.73	–2.05	776	86
	Labor		1,071,688	26.67	+1.05	188	3
	Liberal		703,796	17.52	–7.99	127	13
	Greens		355,196	8.84	+0.21	65	11
	Independent Liberal		95,602	2.38	+1.08	8	3
	Our Local Community		72,942	1.81	+0.08	10	6
	Clover Moore Independent Team		47,877	1.19	–1.41	4
	Your Northern Beaches		46,355	1.15	–8.00	6
	Shoalhaven Independents Group		27,254	0.68	–0.63	4	1
	Lake Mac Independents		24,922	0.62	–0.48	3
	Dai Le		18,774	0.47	+0.47	3	3
	Residents and Ratepayers		16,607	0.41	+0.41	4	4
	Independent National		16,140	0.40		9
	Small Business		12,244	0.30	+0.30	1	1
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers		12,053	0.30	+0.12	5	3
	Residents First Woollahra		10,951	0.27	–0.07	5
	Liverpool Community Independents Team		10,803	0.27	–0.48	2
	Animal Justice		9,724	0.24	+0.20	1	1
	Lorraine Wearne Independents		9,423	0.24	+0.05	1
	Community First Team		7,561	0.19	–0.22	1
	Sustainable Australia		7,308	0.18	+0.18	2	2
	Serving Mosman		6,870	0.17	–0.09	4	1
	Good For Manly		6,629	0.17	–0.48	1
	Ben Shields Team		5,687	0.14	+0.01	1
	Totally Locally Committed		4,809	0.12	–0.33	1	1
	Liberal Democrats		4,376	0.11	−0.09	0	1
	Strathfield Independents		4,120	0.10	+0.03	2	1
	Nella Hall Independents		3,298	0.09	–0.07	1
	Independent Labor		2,892	0.08	–0.15	1	3
	Our Sustainable Future		2,769	0.07	–0.19	1
	Socialist Alliance		2,612	0.07	+0.05	0
	Australia First		2,549	0.06	–0.10	0
	Kogarah Residents Association		919	0.02	–0.14	0	1
	Arts		536	0.01	+0.01	0
	Science		536	0.01	+0.01	0
	Communist League		116	0.01	+0.01	0
	Independent One Nation		46	0.00	–0.16	0	1
Total			4,018,048	100.00	–	–	–
Registered voters / turnout			4,838,137	83.05	+6.45	–	–

In addition to the local elections, eight LGAs held referendums on questions relating to electoral structures. An advisory poll on de-amalgamation was also held for Inner West.

The closest result was in Wagga Wagga, where 50.6% voted "No" to directly-electing the mayor.

Logan Collins was elected to Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council at the age of 18, becoming the youngest local councillor in New South Wales history.^[24][25]

Analysis commissioned by the NSWEC found 55 voters in Singleton, 54 in Shellharbour and 34 voters in Kempsey who attempted to use iVote were prevented from casting their vote.^[26] As a result, re-runs were ordered by the Supreme Court of NSW which were held on 30 July 2022 and iVote was not used for the 2023 state election.

The New South Wales Electoral Commission has held a number of by-elections and countbacks to fill vacancies on councils since the 2021 elections.^[27]

Countbacks were introduced in January 2022 for council vacancies across the state, although by-elections are still used for some councils.^[28]