# Electoral district of Prahran

Prahran is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It was created by the Electoral Act Amendment Act 1888, taking effect at the 1889 elections. The electorate is the state’s smallest by area, covering a little under 11 km$^2$ in the inner south-east of Melbourne. It includes the suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, as well as parts of Southbank, St Kilda and St Kilda East.

## Overview

Prahran has tended to be a marginal seat throughout its existence, repeatedly changing between the Labor Party and its successive conservative rivals. It has not, however, been a bellwether seat, as the changes of party control have often not coincided with changes of government. In the 1980s and 1990s, the electorate became gradually more conservative as a result of increasing gentrification in the inner suburbs, resulting in seventeen years of Liberal control from 1985 until 2002. This trend was broken in the 2002 election, which saw popular local member and shadow minister Leonie Burke defeated by Labor rising star Tony Lupton on an unexpectedly large swing, even allowing for Labor's massive win that year. The seat has since become increasingly progressive, having been won by either Labor or the Greens in five out of the last six elections while the Liberal Party's primary vote has declined from slightly above the state average to significantly below the state average.
The seat was strongly targeted by the Liberal Party during the 2006 election, with high-profile barrister Clem Newton-Brown narrowly preselected as their candidate after a tight contest. Though Newton-Brown ran a thorough campaign, he was not successful. Following his success in the 2006 election, Tony Lupton was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation. Newton-Brown stood again at the 2010 election and was this time successful. He re-contested the 2014 election but lost to Sam Hibbins of the Greens. Along with the seat of Melbourne it was the first win for the Greens in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
Hibbins increased his two-candidate-preferred margin to 7.5% at the 2018 election, but only narrowly defeated Labor by 262 votes in the 3-candidate-preferred count. At the 2022 election, a large swing to the Greens saw them take first place on primary votes before comfortably defeating the Liberal Party on a 2-candidate-preferred basis, retaining the seat for a third term with an increased margin of 12%.

## Members for Prahran

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Edward Dixon (1833–1905) | Independent | 1 April 1889 – 1 September 1894 | |
| Frederick Gray (1853–1933) | Labour | 1 October 1894 – 1 October 1900 | |
| Donald Mackinnon (1859–1932) | Liberal | 1 October 1900 – 21 October 1920 | |
| Alexander Parker (1891–1970s) | Labor | 21 October 1920 – 30 August 1921 | |
| Richard Fetherston (1964–1943) | Nationalist | 30 August 1921 – 26 June 1924 | |
| Arthur Jackson (1874–1957) | Labor | 26 June 1924 – 14 May 1932 | |
| John Ellis (1872–1945) | United Australia | 14 May 1932 – 5 March 1945 | Died in office |
| John Ellis (1872–1945) | Liberal | 5 March 1945 – 2 July 1945 | Died in office |
| Bill Quirk (1891–1948) | Labor | 18 August 1945 – 16 November 1948 | Won by-election. Died in office |
| Frank Crean (1916–2008) | Labor | 22 January 1949 – 17 March 1951 | Previously member for Albert Park. Won by-election. Resigned in 1951 to successfully contest federal seat of Melbourne Ports and later served as Deputy Prime Minister |
| Robert Pettiona (1915–1980) | Labor | 16 June 1951 – 28 May 1955 | Won by-election. Lost seat |
| Sam Loxton (1921–2011) | Liberal | 28 May 1955 – 5 May 1979 | |
| Bob Miller (1941–) | Labor | 5 May 1979 – 2 March 1985 | Did not seek re-election in order to unsuccessfully contest Legislative Council seat of Monash |
| Don Hayward (1932–) | Liberal | 2 March 1985 – 30 March 1996 | |
| Leonie Burke (1949–) | Liberal | 30 March 1996 – 30 November 2002 | Lost seat |
| Tony Lupton (1957–) | Labor | 30 November 2002 – 27 November 2010 | Lost seat |
| Clem Newton-Brown (1967–) | Liberal | 27 November 2010 – 29 November 2014 | Lost seat |
| Sam Hibbins (1982–) | Greens | 29 November 2014 – 1 November 2024 | Resigned from Greens after admitting to extramarital affair with staff member. Resigned from parliament |
| Sam Hibbins (1982–) | Independent | 1 November 2024– 23 November 2024 | Resigned from Greens after admitting to extramarital affair with staff member. Resigned from parliament |
| Rachel Westaway | Liberal | 8 February 2025 – present | Won by-election. Incumbent |

## Election results

2025 Prahran state by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Rachel Westaway | 11,443 | 36.19 | +5.1 |
| | Greens | Angelica Di Camillo | 11,442 | 36.19 | −0.2 |
| | Independent | Tony Lupton | 4,021 | 12.72 | +12.7 |
| | Independent | Nathan Chisholm | 1,672 | 5.29 | +5.3 |
| | Animal Justice | Faith Fuhrer | 879 | 2.78 | −0.4 |
| | Independent | Janine Hendry | 505 | 1.60 | +1.6 |
| | Independent | Buzz Billman | 465 | 1.47 | +1.5 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Dennis Bilic | 430 | 1.36 | +1.4 |
| | Family First | Geneviève Gilbert | 340 | 1.08 | −0.5 |
| | Libertarian | Mark Dessau | 292 | 0.92 | +0.9 |
| | Independent | Alan Menadue | 126 | 0.40 | −0.7 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 31,615 | 96.1 | −0.8 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,271 | 3.86 | +0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,886 | 68.28 | −14.4 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal | Rachel Westaway | 16,234 | 51.35 | +13.4 |
| | Greens | Angelica Di Camillo | 15,381 | 48.65 | −13.4 |
| | Liberal gain from Greens | Liberal gain from Greens | Swing | +13.4 | |