| Election Name: | 2022 Willoughby state by-election |
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2019 New South Wales state election |
| Previous Year: | 2019 |
| Election Date: | 12 February 2022 |
| Next Election: | 2023 New South Wales state election |
| Next Year: | 2023 |
| Registered: | 54,988 |
| Turnout: | 80.5% |
| Seats For Election: | Electoral district of Willoughby in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly |
| Candidate1: | Tim James |
| Party1: | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Popular Vote1: | 18,949 |
| Party2: | Independent politician |
| Popular Vote2: | 12,920 |
| Candidate3: | Lynne Saville |
| Party3: | Australian Greens |
| Popular Vote3: | 5,892 |
| 1Blank: | Percentage |
| 1Data1: | 43.50% |
| 1Data2: | 29.66% |
| 1Data3: | 13.53% |
| 2Blank: | Swing |
| 2Data1: | 13.53pp |
| 2Data2: | 19.75pp |
| 2Data3: | 2.36pp |
| 3Blank: | 2CP |
| 3Data1: | 53.30% |
| 3Data2: | 46.70% |
| 4Blank: | 2CP change |
| 4Data1: | 20.45pp |
| 4Data2: | 20.45pp |
| MP | |
| Before Election: | Gladys Berejiklian |
| Before Party: | Liberal |
| After Election: | Tim James |
| After Party: | Liberal |
| Flag Image: | Flag_of_New_South_Wales.svg |
A by-election was held in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Willoughby on 12 February 2022, caused by the resignation of Premier of New South Wales and Liberal MP Gladys Berejiklian.[1]
The Willoughby by-election was held on the same day as by-elections for the districts of Bega, Monaro and Strathfield. The writs for election were issued on 21 January 2022. Nominations for candidates closed seven days later at noon on 27 January, with the ballot paper draw commencing in the morning of 28 January.[2]
The NSW Electoral Commission pre-emptively sent postal ballots to all voters registered on the state electoral roll for the relevant districts, under a regulation in a COVID amendment to the Electoral Act. Postal votes will be checked against in-person voting rolls to prevent double voting. The iVote online voting system was not used at these elections after the system failed during the NSW local government elections in December 2021.[3]
| Candidates (in ballot paper order)[4] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Background | Notes | |||
| William Bourke | Founder and president of Sustainable Australia. Councillor and deputy mayor of North Sydney Council. | [5] | ||||
| Larissa Penn | Biotechnologist. Contested Willoughby at the 2019 state election. | |||||
| Samuel Gunning | Former North Sydney councillor. Contested North Shore at the 2019 state election, and the federal seat of Wentworth at the 2018 by-election. | |||||
| Greens | Lynne Saville | Registered nurse and City of Willoughby councillor. Greens candidate for North Sydney at the 2022 federal election. | ||||
| Liberal | Tim James | Executive general manager of the Menzies Research Centre. | ||||
| Penny Hackett | Lawyer in private practice, funds management and investment banking and activist for voluntary assisted dying laws. | |||||
The two-candidate swing from the 2019 general election is calculated from the NSW Electoral Commission Two Candidate Preferred (TCP) Analytical Tool for Berejiklian (LIB) vs Penn (IND).