Labor’s Mark Greenhill (centre, back) celebrates his re-election with supporters on Saturday night including former Liberal Party councillor Fiona Creed.
Labor could have as many as five representatives on the new council, up from three, while the Liberals will take a fourth council spot for the first time after getting elected in Ward 1. Voters only elected one Greens councillor in Ward 2, down from three. Recriminations have already started following the vote, with Ward 4 Greens candidate Mark O’Sullivan attacking his Labor opponent, and retiring Liberal councillor Fiona Creed lashing out at her Liberal Party successor, 21-year-old Brendan Christie. Ms Creed attended the election night party of Labor Deputy Mayor Mark Greenhill after deciding not to stand for Liberal Party pre-selection following a push to replace her by her factional opponent, Mr Christie. While Mr Christie increased the Liberal Party vote in Ward 4, he was outpolled by the Labor Party which is likely to get a second councillor elected because of its high vote. "I think it’s quite clear looking at the results from Saturday that the residents of Ward 4 were not happy with the Liberal Party playing politics at a local level and installing a puppet," Ms Creed said on Monday. "No matter how they spin it, it is a terrible result for Mr Christie and the Liberals. Not only did Mark buck the trend across the state with a massive swing, he won every booth and only just lost Mount Riverview." She thanked her supporters for backing Clr Greenhill in the campaign. But Mr Christie - who became the youngest ever councillor elected to Blue Mountains City Council on Saturday - hit back at the former Liberal councillor’s claims. "Given Ms Creed’s decision to switch her support to the Labor Party I am not surprised she is attempting to down play the success of the Liberal Party, but the fact is the Liberal Party vote in Ward 4 increased by 45 per cent at this election, resulting in our highest vote since 1999," he said. "The increase in the Labor Party vote across the Mountains has come at the expense of the Greens and not the Liberal Party." This fact was hit home by the likely loss of Greens councillors in Wards 1, 3 and 4. While Ward 1 Greens candidate Brent Hoare hadn’t formally conceded on Monday he said it would "be surprising" if he eventually took the final spot ahead of Labor’s Don McGregor. The Greens have definitely lost in Ward 3 and look like being edged out for the final Ward 4 spot by Labor’s Anton von Schulenurg. Mr O’Sullivan lashed out at Labor’s decision to preference the Liberal Party in Ward 4 ahead of the Greens, which the party said "will almost certainly ensure that the Greens will miss out in that ward". "I congratulate Mark Greenhill on his campaign and look forward to seeing him deliver on the promises he made in terms of service delivery," he said. "He may like to reflect, however, on a possible outcome of his campaign committee’s preference deal. If the Liberal Party had outpolled him, they may well have been responsible for electing two Liberal councillors in Ward 4. This outcome came within only 350 votes of happening, or 0.12 of a quota, and I’m not sure that was what they or ALP voters would have wanted." But Mr Greenhill said his preference decision had no impact on the Greens not getting elected because its primary vote was so low. "With [the Liberal Party’s] Mr Christie elected on his own, my preferences would have flowed directly to Mr O’Sullivan but his primary vote has dropped so low that they are flowing to my running mate first," he said. "Similarly, at the last election, I preferenced the Greens ahead of all other candidates while they directed none to me. So while I have twice preferenced the Greens they have never returned the favour." The lone Greens councillor Geordie Williamson put their performance in context on Monday. "While it is disappointing to witness the softening of the vote in the Blue Mountains City Council election, where we have seen a 5.8 per cent loss in support for the Green voice in the mountains, this comes off an historically high Greens' vote in 2008 and compares well with other regions," Mr Williamson said. "The softening is due to a number of factors, including a statewide increase in support for the Liberal Party." Two independents will join the new council - returning Ward 3 Clr Brendan Luchetti and new candidate Robert Stock in Ward 1. Labor’s Romola Hollywood in Ward 2 will be the only female councillor. The first meeting of the new council is due to be held on September 25 when the mayor and deputy mayor will be elected.