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Labor keeps Northcote in nail-biting battle

Labor MP Kat Theophanous has retained the seat of Northcote after a tight vote count involving a Greens candidate.

Labor MP Kat Theophanous has retained the seat of Northcote after a tight vote count involving a Greens candidate. Photo: AAP

Kat Theophanous has been re-elected after a nail-biting count in the marginal Melbourne seat of Northcote.

The Labor MP won the seat by 184 votes after preferences, defying a swing of almost 1.5 per cent against Labor.

The result came 10 days after the Victorian election and a tight contest in the inner north seat involving a legal challenge.

Greens candidate Campbell Gome conceded to Ms Theophanous as he trailed her by almost 900 votes on Thursday.

That was until Monday, when the vote count tightened and the Greens then said they would be looking closely at the final data.

Days before polling day, Ms Theophanous challenged the local council in the Supreme Court over the removal of election billboards from private properties.

It’s understood several billboards, each costing up to $1700, were removed over two months of campaigning and taken to the tip.

The case was settled after Darebin City Council promised her billboards would be left alone.

Northcote has been held by Labor since 1927, except for 2017 when now-senator and Greens candidate Lidia Thorpe won it in a by-election after the death of sitting MP Fiona Richardson.

Ms Theophanous was first elected in 2018 and was on Monday named parliamentary secretary for women’s health.

Labor has won at least 53 seats, the Coalition has at least 31 and the Greens have four seats in the lower house.

Final results for several other close seats such as Preston, Bass and Pakenham are expected to be known over coming days.

-AAP

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