Perth Voice Interactive

BASIL ZEMPILAS is back as Perth’s lord mayor with a third election win, while an extensive preference count among 10 council candidates saw contenders jostle back and forth before some late reversals. 

Mr Zempilas claimed 56.5 per cent of the vote against Sandy Anghie’s 36.49 per cent, with newcomer Will Leyland polling at 7 per cent.

Among the 10-way race for four council seats, incumbent Catherine Lezer got first place. 

Bruce Reynolds, who previously ran for mayor, opted for a councillor role this time round and got a comfortable second place.

Third place went to David Goncalves, whose campaign had been endorsed by Ms Anghie. He was one of four candidates who declared receiving an electoral gift worth $4,038 from Ms Anghie, which covered being included in a flyer pack, printing, and postage costs.

The final spot was a close race: For most of the count, it appeared that law firm director Crawforde Yorke would take the seat, having started out in fourth place on the primary votes.

He stayed ahead for most of the count, but as the final few eliminated candidates had their preferences distributed East Perth community volunteer Raj Doshi pulled from fifth place to fourth.

Medals

In a post-election statement on his LinkedIn page, Mr Yorke wrote, “they say that the worst result you can have in sports is to come fourth at the Olympics. Just out of the medals, often by a hundredth of a second or a few centimetres short.

“And while it’s not the Olympics, the final result for the City of Perth elections has left me in fifth place, just one short of being elected.

“It’s a tough result, to be so close, but someone has to be the first one to miss out and today that’s me.”

Others left off the winner’s podium included Glennys Marsdon, Bronte Macmillan, Isabella Tripp, Naijiao Bo, Dave Lee, Shirley Vine, and Mr Leyland, who’d also had a tilt for council along with his mayoral attempt.

by DAVID BELL