Complex sentence: He had lost a previous internal ALP preselection battle with now good friend and fellow Socialist Left faction member Gavin Jennings for the Legislative Council seat of Melbourne Province, depite winning the local party member vote (Jennings subsequently won on the central ALP POSC vote).
Split into simpler sentences: He had lost a previous internal ALP preselection battle with now good friend and fellow Socialist Left faction member Gavin Jennings for the Legislative Council seat of Melbourne Province. This was depite winning the local party member vote (Jennings subsequently won on the central ALP POSC vote).