News / Council Elections
Tapinos ahead in knife’s edge Brunswick West election count
But Greens’ rising star Angelica Panopoulos is in danger of losing her seat

Mark Phillips
Updated: Friday, November 1, 2024
DEPUTY Mayor Lambros Tapinos is clinging to a slender lead in Brunswick West ward after early counting in the Merri-bek Council elections.
On Wednesday evening, Tapinos, the Labor candidate for Brunswick West, was leading the Greens’ Ella Svensson by 154 votes following the counting of 58.9% of primary votes cast.
In neighbouring Bulleke-bek, the Greens’ Jay Iwasaki is leading by 785 votes ahead of Victorian Socialists’ Louisa Bassini. Incumbent Mayor Adam Pulford has been re-elected in the Brunswick East ward of Warrk-Warrk with 56.29% of primary votes. And Greens’ candidate Liz Irvin has a comfortable lead of 246 votes in Randazzo ward ahead of independent Voula Allimonos.
But a major upset is possible in Harmony Park ward, which takes in Coburg, where Greens’ rising star Angelica Panopoulos is trailing Labor’s Helen Politis by just 34 primary votes after the counting of 63.8% of votes cast.
In other early results, incumbent councillors Sue Bolton, Oscar Yildiz and Helen Davidson appear set to be returned in Bababi Djinanang (Fawkner), Pascoe Vale South and Djirri-Djirri (Oak Park) wards respectively.
Voting closed last Friday and some late postal votes are still to be counted in all wards.
Tapinos currently has 35.71% of primary votes to Svensson’s 33.21%. Independent Kathleen De Courcy-Browne is coming third with 18.86%.
Tapinos and De Courcy-Browne agreed to swap preferences with each other during the election campaign, and that could be enough to see the Labor candidate returned for a fifth term. The preferences of fourth placed Anneke Demanuele of the Victorian Socialists, currently on 12.22%, are expected to go to Svensson.
On Wednesday evening, Tapinos said he was “quietly optimistic” he would win the ward.
“I said from day one the Greens were the favourites in Brunswick and certainly the favourites in Brunswick West, so to be ahead of them on primaries is a fantastic result for me personally and a good result for Labor,” he said.
“But it’s still too close to call at this stage.”
Jay Iwasaki is in the box seat for Bulleke-bek ward, which takes in Brunswick between Sydney Road and Pearson Street. He has 35.52% of primaries to Louisa Bassini’s 21.95%.
Bassini’s strong showing has pushed Labor’s Helen Breier back to third place on 21.71%. While Breier is likely to benefit from preferences from independent Mel Yuan, currently with 16.54% of primaries, which would push the Labor candidate up to second, Bassini’s preferences will mostly flow to Iwasaki.
Counting on Thursday showed Liz Irvin ahead with 32.66% of primary votes in Randazzo ward. Voula Allimonos, an independent, is second with 28.62% after a surprisingly strong performance, with Labor’s Thomas Nash a distant third with 18.51%. Irvin should prevail on preferences from the Socialist Alliance and Victorian Socialists candidates. By Thursday evening, 55.96% of votes had been counted in Randazzo.
The high profile of incumbent Mayor Adam Pulford of the Greens has ensured his re-election with 56.29% of first preferences, twice as many as Labor’s Jenne Perlstein, who gained 27.18% of primaries. Pulford’s final tally is likely to be even higher after preferences from the third candidate, Victorian Socialists’ Jo-Ann Hope.
Panopoulos in trouble, Abboud in front
In Harmony Park — which takes in central Coburg — Labor candidate Helen Politis has received 26.01% of primary votes to Panopoulos’ 25.54%. Independent Jason Clarke is coming third with 18.43%, and another independent, Stephen Schembri, is fourth on 14.24%.
Preference flows could be enough to see Panopopulos, who was Mayor in 2022-23 and Greens’ candidate for Pascoe Vale at the 2022 state election, knocked out of the council after just one term.
Preferences will also be crucial in the neighbouring ward of Pentridge, where there is a tight two-way race between independent Natalie Abboud and Labor’s Suzan Saka.
Abboud, a former Greens Mayor who is now seeking to return to the council as an independent, is on 21.63% of primary votes, just 55 ahead of Saka on 20.76%. Greens candidate Kenna Morrison is third on 15.26%, while another former Mayor attempting a comeback, Anthony Helou, has 13.64%.
But in a field with seven candidates, how preferences are allocated is anybody’s guess at this stage. By Thursday, 60.4% of votes had been counted in total.
Bolton, Yildiz and Davidson returned
Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton is almost certain to be re-elected for another term after securing almost half of primary votes in Bababi Djinanang ward following the counting of 66.2% of votes cast. Bolton is sitting on 46.32% of the vote, giving her a seemingly insurmountable lead of 1473 votes over Labor’s Hassan Gul, who has 26.21% of primaries.
Former Mayor and long-term councillor Oscar Yildiz has been returned in the new Pascoe Vale South ward with 63.27% of primary votes, almost triple the runner-up, Labor’s Corey Perkins.
In Djirri-Djirri, Helen Davidson, a former Mayor, had a commanding 492 vote lead over after the counting of 66.6% of primary votes over another independent, Michelle Pitt, with Labor’s Praveen Kumar a distant third. Davidson has 37.63% of primaries to Pitt’s 30.83%.
Labor could have a third councillor with Chris Miles holding a sizeable lead in Box Forest (Glenroy) ward after the counting of 62.6% of primary votes.
Miles has 39.01% of primaries, giving him a lead of 1082 over the Greens’ Metin Golbasi on 24.19%.
Golbasi is likely to benefit from preferences from Victorian Socialists’ Lewis Moore, currently third with 18.83%, while independent Boris Duzova is fourth on 17.98%.
The result for Westbreen ward in Pascoe Vale could go down to the wire with Labor’s Katerine Theodosis currently leading by 182 votes from independent Renee Egglestone after counting of 64.2% of votes. Theodosis is on 25.75% and Egglestone on 23.22%. Incumbent councillor Helen Pavlidis-Mihalakos is on 20.4%.
Theodosis will need to pick up a swathe of preferences from the other three candidates as Egglestone and Pavlidis-Mihalakos will swap preferences as both are members of the team loosely aligned with Oscar Yildiz.
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