Aston by-election: Liberals suffer massive blow as Labor’s Mary Doyle takes seat in historic win

Labor has taken the Federal seat of Aston in a historic by-election boilover that has dealt a massive blow to the Liberal Party and its leader Peter Dutton.

Five candidates were standing for the Melbourne seat — which has been held by the Liberals since 1990 — but the headline fight was between Labor’s Mary Doyle and the Liberal’s Roshena Campbell.

ABC election analyst Antony Green called the election for Ms Doyle just after 5pm in the wake of a stunning 6 per cent swing to Labor, which had secured about 41 per cent of the primary vote to the Liberals’ 38 per cent and the Greens’ 11 per cent.

Ms Doyle will replace retiring Liberal MP Alan Tudge, whose retirement in February triggered the by-election.

The result derails historical trends, with a governing party not winning a seat off the opposition at a by-election in more than 100 years.

It is especially disastrous for Mr Dutton, with the by-election widely viewed as a test of his leadership.

Addressing his party tonight, the Liberal leader said it had been a “tough night” for the party, but it would only make them stronger for the next general election.

“We gather together now, we rebuild and I promise you, we will never give in,” he said.

An early swing towards Labor foreshadowed the Liberals’ demise in the mortgage-belt electorate, where Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell focused her campaign on the increasing cost of living and local infrastructure.

Ms Campbell is a barrister and former Melbourne City councillor.

Labor’s Ms Doyle is a breast cancer survivor and former unionist who failed to take the seat at the last election.

She said the Albanese Government was making a difference for households doing it tough due to the rising cost of living through measures such as cheaper child care and cutting the cost of prescription medication.

The win comes as a welcome surprise for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who said during the campaign that anything less than a massive majority for the Liberals would be an indictment on Mr Dutton’s leadership.

The Aston upset comes after Labor reclaimed NSW at last month’s State election on the back of a 5.6 per cent swing, establishing a “red wall” of Labor government across every jurisdiction of mainland Australia.