Victorian State Election 2010: Dandenong
Electorate: Dandenong
Margin: Labor 18.7%
Upper house region: South-Eastern Melbourne
Federal: Bruce/Holt/Isaacs
Click here for Victorian Electoral Commission map
The candidates
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BLACKBURN, Christopher
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Electorate analysis: The south-eastern suburban centre of Dandenong has been a low-rent Labor stronghold since Melbourne’s urban expansion encroached on the township in the late 1960s. The Jeff Kennett landslides whittled the margin back to 3.0 per cent in 1992 and 3.4 per cent in 1996, such that Kennett entered the 1999 election with the grand hope that he might increase his majority by nabbing Dandenong and Dandenong North. The mismatch between his hopes and the reality of that election was underscored when Dandenong in fact swung to Labor by 2.4 per cent, with a further 9.1 per cent swing in 2002 returning the seat deep into safe Labor territory. The member since 1992 has been former Finance Sector Union organiser John Pandazopolous, a member of the Socialist Left faction. Pandazopoulos rose to cabinet on the election of the Bracks government, holding various portfolios during the government’s first two terms before falling victim to a cabinet shake-up after the 2006 election.
Analysis written by William Bowe. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.