South Australian slot goes to candidate backed by factional powerbroker Alex Antic as moderates lose more ground in Canberra
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The right wing of the Liberal party has gained another number in Canberra at the expense of the party’s waning moderate faction after an Alex Antic-backed candidate won the race to replace Simon Birmingham.
Leah Blyth, the president of the South Australian Liberal party, will fill Brimingham’s old Senate seat after winning a ballot of party members in Adelaide on Friday night.
Blyth won in the first and only round on almost 120 votes, beating the moderate candidate, lawyer Sam Hooper, by around 50 votes, according to Liberal sources. The Adelaide city councillor, Henry Davis placed third, receiving 11 votes, sources said.
The win is further proof of Antic and his hard-right faction’s tightening grip on the local branch.
Antic might be a backbencher in Canberra, known mostly for his “anti-woke” agenda, but he is a factional heavyweight in South Australia who last year used his numbers to dislodge former minister Anne Ruston from top spot on the Liberal Senate ticket.
Blyth was elected state president in August last year, after previously leading the branch’s women’s council.
In April 2023, under Blyth’s women’s council presidency, the right wing-dominated council passed a series of motions opposing the South Australian parliament’s introduction of gender-neutral pronouns as well as offering support to British activist Kellie-Jay Keen’s group, Let Women Speak.
Her win will boost the Liberals’ female representation in Canberra.
The vote on Friday was another blow for the Liberal moderates in South Australia and nationally after losing their most senior figure when Birmingham quit politics to move to the private sector.
Senior moderate Paul Fletcher will also quit at the next election, further diminishing a faction that was decimated after teal independents stormed through heartland Liberal seats in Victoria, NSW and Perth at the 2022 election.
Davis said he would consider running again despite only gaining a small number of votes.
“I’m really happy with the results, delegates were encouraging me to run again and I’ve got plenty of fight left in me,” he said.
“It’s always a pleasure to chat with the Guardian.”
Ahead of the vote, Guardian Australia asked Antic why he was backing Blyth.
“I do not bother wasting my time speaking to the Guardian,” he said.
Guardian Australia has asked Blyth for comment.
