Hughes — Australian Federal Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Hughes was won by Craig Kelly (Liberal) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 18,807 votes over Diedree Steinwall after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Hughes from 1955 to 2019.

Australia uses instant-runoff (preferential) voting: voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if no one has a majority of first-preference votes, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed to voters' next preference, repeating until one candidate has a majority. The "Winner" and "Margin" below reflect the final result after preferences (equivalent to the AEC's own two-candidate-preferred figure) — not simply whoever led on first preferences, which can occasionally be a different candidate.

Full Election History (After Preferences), 1955–2019

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1955	Leslie Johnson	Labor	22,165	52.2%	Keith Bates (Liberal)	1,860 (4.4 pts)
1958	Leslie Johnson	Labor	28,651	56.2%	John Dwyer (Liberal)	6,299 (12.4 pts)
1961	Leslie Johnson	Labor	37,113	62.4%	Keith Woodward (Liberal)	14,714 (24.7 pts)
1963	Leslie Johnson	Labor	35,726	53.7%	William Cover (Liberal)	4,975 (7.5 pts)
1966	Donald Dobie	Liberal	39,188	52.0%	Leslie Johnson (Labor)	2,947 (3.9 pts)
1969	Leslie Johnson	Labor	30,004	67.9%	Carl Leddy (Liberal)	15,842 (35.9 pts)
1972	Leslie Johnson	Labor	35,849	68.6%	Eric Blain (Liberal)	19,450 (37.2 pts)
1974	Leslie Johnson	Labor	40,005	67.9%	Philip Benwell (Liberal)	21,051 (35.7 pts)
1975	Leslie Johnson	Labor	37,000	59.3%	Robert Law (Liberal)	11,638 (18.7 pts)
1977	Leslie Johnson	Labor	34,659	60.9%	Henry Halliwell (Liberal)	12,430 (21.8 pts)
1980	Leslie Johnson	Labor	40,470	62.8%	Christopher Downy (Liberal)	16,519 (25.6 pts)
1983	Leslie Johnson	Labor	46,667	68.5%	Peter Somerville (Liberal)	25,200 (37.0 pts)
1984	Robert Tickner	Labor	32,517	56.5%	Cliff Mason (Liberal)	7,465 (13.0 pts)
1987	Robert Tickner	Labor	34,958	55.1%	Cliff Mason (Liberal)	6,434 (10.1 pts)
1990	Robert Tickner	Labor	39,434	56.6%	Cliff Mason (Liberal)	9,147 (13.1 pts)
1993	Robert Tickner	Labor	39,949	56.4%	Noel Short (Liberal)	9,094 (12.8 pts)
1996	Danna Vale	Liberal	42,669	54.9%	Robert Tickner (Labor)	7,597 (9.8 pts)
1998	Danna Vale	Liberal	45,154	55.5%	David Hill (Labor)	8,975 (11.0 pts)
2004	Danna Vale	Liberal	48,279	61.0%	Greg Holland (Labor)	17,466 (22.1 pts)
2007	Danna Vale	Liberal	43,562	52.2%	Greg Holland (Labor)	3,605 (4.3 pts)
2010	Craig Kelly	Liberal	47,619	55.2%	Brent Thomas (Labor)	8,931 (10.3 pts)
2013	Craig Kelly	Liberal	53,735	60.7%	Alison Megarrity (Labor)	18,895 (21.3 pts)
2016	Craig Kelly	Liberal	55,633	59.3%	Diedree Steinwall (Labor)	17,490 (18.7 pts)
2019	Craig Kelly	Liberal	57,149	59.8%	Diedree Steinwall (Labor)	18,807 (19.7 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

Every candidate's first-preference votes, before any preference redistribution.

1955

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	20,549	48.4%
Keith Bates	Liberal	19,840	46.7%
Alfred Watt	Communist Party of Australia	1,201	2.8%
Robert Mackie	Independent	880	2.1%

1958

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	28,651	53.8%
John Dwyer	Liberal	22,352	42.0%
Kevin O'connor	Democratic Labor Party	2,221	4.2%

1961

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	37,113	59.2%
Keith Woodward	Liberal	22,399	35.7%
Wesley Johns	Democratic Labor Party	3,226	5.1%

1963

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	35,726	52.1%
William Cover	Liberal	30,751	44.8%
George Apap	Democratic Labor Party	1,665	2.4%
John Phillips	Independent	269	0.4%
John Mantova	Independent	200	0.3%

1966

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Donald Dobie	Liberal	37,647	49.9%
Leslie Johnson	Labor	35,793	47.5%
William Goslett	Democratic Labor Party	1,989	2.6%

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	30,004	61.3%
Carl Leddy	Liberal	14,162	29.0%
Marjorie Williams	Independent	3,169	6.5%
William Goslett	Democratic Labor Party	1,577	3.2%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	35,849	66.5%
Eric Blain	Liberal	16,399	30.4%
William Goslett	Democratic Labor Party	1,643	3.0%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	40,005	66.3%
Philip Benwell	Liberal	18,954	31.4%
Walter Skarschewski	AP	1,382	2.3%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	37,000	59.3%
Robert Law	Liberal	25,362	40.7%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	34,659	51.7%
Henry Halliwell	Liberal	22,229	33.1%
Kenneth Johnson	Australian Democrats	10,212	15.2%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	40,470	57.0%
Christopher Downy	Liberal	23,951	33.7%
Questa Gill	Australian Democrats	5,867	8.3%
Marjorie Wisby	Independent	687	1.0%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Leslie Johnson	Labor	46,667	61.6%
Peter Somerville	Liberal	21,467	28.4%
Ronald Hellyer	Australian Democrats	6,899	9.1%
Stephen Painter	Independent	672	0.9%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Robert Tickner	Labor	30,224	52.5%
Cliff Mason	Liberal	22,790	39.6%
Harold Jeffrey	Australian Democrats	4,058	7.0%
Marjorie Wisby	Independent	497	0.9%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Robert Tickner	Labor	31,636	49.8%
Cliff Mason	Liberal	26,433	41.6%
Paul Terrett	Australian Democrats	5,416	8.5%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Robert Tickner	Labor	31,500	45.1%
Cliff Mason	Liberal	26,503	38.0%
John Clancy	Australian Democrats	8,576	12.3%
George Kriflik	Greens	3,254	4.7%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Robert Tickner	Labor	36,714	51.8%
Noel Short	Liberal	27,075	38.2%
June Young	Australian Democrats	2,798	4.0%
Colin Scott	Communist Party	1,689	2.4%
Sue Gunning	Independent	1,211	1.7%
Joanne Buckley	Independent	1,054	1.5%
Carol Maher	Independent	277	0.4%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Danna Vale	Liberal	38,211	49.0%
Robert Tickner	Labor	29,690	38.1%
Robert Koppelhuber	Australian Democrats	4,534	5.8%
Steve Allen	Greens	2,517	3.2%
Christopher Derrick	Communist Party	1,571	2.0%
Martha Halliday	Independent	1,498	1.9%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Danna Vale	Liberal	38,199	47.0%
David Hill	Labor	27,711	34.1%
Reginald Lowder	One Nation	7,020	8.6%
Adrian Blackburn	Australian Democrats	3,096	3.8%
Jo-Anne Lentern	Greens	2,224	2.7%
Jim Mcgoldrick	Independent	2,069	2.5%
Suthep Kunathai	Unity	655	0.8%
Jim Bowen	Independent	211	0.3%
Martin Heald	Independent	148	0.2%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Danna Vale	Liberal	43,726	55.3%
Greg Holland	Labor	24,739	31.3%
Lorraine Dixon	Greens	5,372	6.8%
John Vanderjagt	Christian Democratic Party	2,589	3.3%
Bob Davis	Independent	1,504	1.9%
Rob Bunt	Australian Democrats	1,162	1.5%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Danna Vale	Liberal	40,334	48.3%
Greg Holland	Labor	35,087	42.0%
Jamie Paterson	Greens	4,646	5.6%
John Vanderjagt	Christian Democratic Party	2,419	2.9%
Julie Mezyed	Family First	1,033	1.2%

2010

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Craig Kelly	Liberal	42,424	49.2%
Brent Thomas	Labor	32,611	37.8%
Susan Roberts	Greens	5,430	6.3%
Scott Nailon	Christian Democratic Party	2,112	2.4%
Peter Bussa	One Nation	1,599	1.9%
Stan Hurley	Family First	1,183	1.4%
Don Nguyen	Independent	948	1.1%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Craig Kelly	Liberal	48,436	54.7%
Alison Megarrity	Labor	28,406	32.1%
John Peters	Palmer United Party	5,224	5.9%
Signe Westerberg	Greens	3,948	4.5%
Peter Colsell	Christian Democratic Party	2,561	2.9%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Craig Kelly	Liberal	48,734	52.0%
Diedree Steinwall	Labor	29,895	31.9%
Phil Smith	Greens	6,912	7.4%
Michael Caudre	Christian Democratic Party	4,490	4.8%
Ellie Robertson	AJP	3,745	4.0%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Craig Kelly	Liberal	50,763	53.2%
Diedree Steinwall	Labor	29,088	30.5%
Mitchell Shakespeare	Greens	6,631	6.9%
Gae Constable	AJP	2,439	2.6%
Terrance Keep	United Australia Party	2,366	2.5%
Leo-Ning Liu	Christian Democratic Party	2,216	2.3%
Matt Bryan	Independent	1,988	2.1%

Margin Over Time

Final (after-preferences) winning margin, percentage points, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Hughes has been contested at 24 federal elections on record since 1955. Winning parties over that span: Labor, Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Hughes in the 2019 federal election?

Craig Kelly (Liberal) won Hughes in 2019 after preferences, with 57,149 votes (59.8%) to Diedree Steinwall's 38,342.

Which parties have won Hughes since 1955?

Since 1955, Hughes has been won by: Labor, Liberal.

What was the closest result in Hughes?

The closest result on record for Hughes was 1966, when Donald Dobie (Liberal) beat Leslie Johnson by 2,947 votes (3.9 percentage points) after preferences.