# Electoral district of Richmond (Victoria)

Richmond is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is currently a 13 km$^2$ electorate in the inner east of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, North Fitzroy and Fitzroy. Historically a very safe seat for the Labor Party, Richmond has in recent elections become increasingly marginal against the Greens, who eventually won the seat at the 2022 Victorian state election.

## History

Richmond is one of only three electorates (along with Brighton and Williamstown) to have been contested at every election since 1856. It was initially a two-member electorate, but was changed to return only a single member in the redistribution of 1904 when several new districts were created including Abbotsford. It covers a series of traditionally working-class, industrial suburbs, and has been continuously held by the Labor Party with the exception of only one term since 1904. The brief exception occurred amidst the famous Labor split of 1955, when the incumbent Labor member, Frank Scully, joined six other Catholic MPs in breaking away to found the Democratic Labor Party. Scully, as the party's leader, was the only MP to hold his seat at the next election, but was defeated in 1958 by Bill Towers, previously the member for the abolished seat of Collingwood.
Though a traditionally safe Labor seat, it has become progressively marginal in recent years due to increasing support for the Greens in the area. This first occurred at the 2002 state election, when union organiser Gemma Pinnell nearly won the seat on Liberal preferences, taking 47 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The Green surge was seen as a reaction to the conservative policies of the then federal Labor leader, Kim Beazley, by the generally progressive inner city constituency. Labor polled slightly better in the 2006 state election, taking 54% of the two-party preferred against Greens candidate and local councillor Gurm Sekhon. It remains a marginal seat, however, and was strongly contested by Greens candidate, Kathleen Maltzahn, at the state elections in 2010 and 2014.
Former member Richard Wynne, a Labor Party member, served as the state Minister for Housing and Minister for Local Government in the Bracks and Brumby governments from 2006 to 2010, and was the Minister for Planning in the second Andrews government. Wynne gained the seat in 1999 after the former Labor member, Demetri Dollis, was disendorsed for extended absence overseas.
The current member is Gabrielle de Vietri.

### Historical maps

* Location within Greater Melbourne area, 1859
* Map of Richmond district (etc.), 1856

## Members for Richmond
### Two-member electorate (1856–1904)

| Member | Party | Term | Notes | Image | Member | Party | Term |
| George Evans (1802–1868) | Unaligned | 1 November 1856 – 1 August 1859 | | | Daniel Campbell (1812–1875) | Unaligned | 1 November 1856 – 1 August 1859 |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | | Alfred Woolley (1818–1890) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 July 1861 |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | Thomas Lambert (1829–1877) | Unaligned | 1 August 1861 – 1 July 1864 | |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | Archibald Wardrop (1828–1887) | Unaligned | 1 November 1864 – 1 July 1866 | Resigned |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | Ambrose Kyte (1822–1868) | Unaligned | 1 January 1867 – 1 December 1867 | Former member for East Melbourne. Won by-election |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | James Harcourt (1813–1893) | Unaligned | 1 June 1868 – 1 June 1871 | |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | Louis Smith (1830–1910) | Unaligned | 1 April 1871 – 1 March 1874 | |
| James Francis (1819–1884) | Unaligned | 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 | Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned | Robert Inglis (1833–1915) | Unaligned | 1 May 1874 – 1 April 1877 | |
| Joseph Bosisto (1827–1898) | Unaligned | 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 | | Robert Inglis (1833–1915) | Unaligned | 1 May 1874 – 1 April 1877 | |
| Joseph Bosisto (1827–1898) | Unaligned | 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 | | Louis Smith (1830–1910) | Unaligned | 1 May 1877 – 1 February 1880 | |
| Joseph Bosisto (1827–1898) | Unaligned | 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 | | William Froggatt Walker (1840–1890) | Unaligned | 1 May 1880 – 1 June 1880 | |
| Joseph Bosisto (1827–1898) | Unaligned | 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 | | Louis Smith (1830–1910) | Unaligned | 1 July 1880 – 1 February 1883 | |
| Joseph Bosisto (1827–1898) | Unaligned | 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 | | Charles Smith (1833–1903) | Unaligned | 1 February 1883 – 1 March 1889 | |
| George Henry Bennett (1850–1908) | Unaligned | 1 April 1889 – 1 June 1904 | Re-elected when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904 |
| George Henry Bennett (1850–1908) | Unaligned | 1 April 1889 – 1 June 1904 | Re-elected when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904 | William Trenwith (1846–1925) | Labor | 1 April 1889 – 18 November 1903 | First leader of the Victorian Labor Party. Resigned to successfully contest 1903 federal election and served as senator for Victoria from 1904 until 1910 |
| George Henry Bennett (1850–1908) | Unaligned | 1 April 1889 – 1 June 1904 | Re-elected when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904 | George Roberts (1868–1925) | Labor | 21 December 1903 – 1 June 1904 | Lost seat when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904 |

### Single-member electorate (1904–present)

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| George Henry Bennett (1850–1908) | Liberal Oppositionist | 1 June 1904 – 14 February 1907 | Died in office |
| George Henry Bennett (1850–1908) | United Liberal | 14 February 1907 – 8 September 1908 | Died in office |
| Ted Cotter (1866–1947) | Labor | 2 October 1908 – 10 November 1945 | Won by-election. Retired after losing Labor preselection |
| Stan Keon (1915–1987) | Labor | 10 November 1945 – 22 October 1949 | Resigned to successfully contest Yarra at the 1949 federal election |
| Frank Scully (1920–2015) | Labor | 17 December 1949 – 30 March 1955 | Won by-election. Joined Labor (Anti-Communist) after being suspended from Labor. Lost seat |
| Frank Scully (1920–2015) | Labor (Anti-Communist) | 30 March 1955 – 18 August 1957 | Won by-election. Joined Labor (Anti-Communist) after being suspended from Labor. Lost seat |
| Frank Scully (1920–2015) | Democratic Labor | 18 August 1957 – 31 May 1958 | Won by-election. Joined Labor (Anti-Communist) after being suspended from Labor. Lost seat |
| Bill Towers (1892–1962) | Labor | 31 May 1958 – 18 March 1962 | Died in office |
| Clyde Holding (1931–2011) | Labor | 12 May 1962 – 3 November 1977 | Won by-election. Leader of the Opposition from 1967 until 1977. Resigned to successfully contest Melbourne Ports at the 1977 federal election |
| Theo Sidiropoulos (1924–1998) | Labor | 17 December 1977 – 1 October 1988 | Won by-election. First Greek-born member of the Parliament of Victoria. Retired |
| Demetri Dollis (1956–) | Labor | 1 October 1988 – 18 September 1999 | Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 1994 until 1996. Disendorsed for extended absence overseas. Later served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece |
| Richard Wynne (1955–) | Labor | 18 September 1999 – 26 November 2022 | Retired |
| Gabrielle de Vietri (1983–) | Greens | 26 November 2022 – present | Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Victorian state election: Richmond :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Greens | Gabrielle de Vietri | 13,771 | 34.7 | +1.2 |
| | Labor | Lauren O'Dwyer | 13,037 | 32.8 | −11.6 |
| | Liberal | Lucas Moon | 7,456 | 18.8 | +18.8 |
| | Reason | Jeremy Cowen | 1,830 | 4.6 | −2.0 |
| | Victorian Socialists | Roz Ward | 1,828 | 4.6 | +4.6 |
| | Animal Justice | Lis Viggers | 934 | 2.3 | −0.5 |
| | Family First | Markus Freiverts | 458 | 1.2 | +1.2 |
| | Independent | Meca Ho | 417 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 39,731 | 96.6 | +2.5 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,381 | 3.4 | −2.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,112 | 85.1 | −0.4 |
| Notional two-party-preferred count ||||||
| | Labor | Lauren O'Dwyer | 29,451 | 74.1 | −7.1 |
| | Liberal | Lucas Moon | 10,280 | 25.9 | +7.1 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Greens | Gabrielle de Vietri | 22,771 | 57.2 | +14.1 |
| | Labor | Lauren O'Dwyer | 17,012 | 42.8 | −14.1 |
| | Greens gain from Labor | Greens gain from Labor | Swing | +14.1 | |