Electoral district of Prahran

Prahran is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is a 12km² electorate in the inner south-east of Melbourne, taking in the suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, as well as parts of Balaclava, St Kilda, St Kilda East and Toorak. The electorate had a population of 54,141 as of the 2001 census.

Prahran has tended to be a marginal seat throughout its existence, repeatedly changing between the Labor Party and its successive conservative rivals. It has not, however, been a bellwether seat, as the changes of party control have often not coincided with changes of government. More recently, the electorate has become increasingly conservative as a result of increasing gentrification in the inner suburbs, resulting in seventeen years of Liberal control from 1985 until 2002. This trend was broken in the 2002 election, which saw popular local member and shadow minister Leonie Burke defeated by Labor rising star Tony Lupton. The seat was heavily targeted by the Liberals to regain at the 2006 election, with high-profile barrister Clem Newton-Brown narrowly preselected as their candidate after a messy preselection battle. Mr Newton Brown ran an expensive, high profile "Vote Clem" campaign, which featured a battery powered bicycle. Following his success in the 2006 election, Tony Lupton was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secrerary for Industry and Innovation.

Members for Prahran

References

* [http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/PrahranDistrictprofile.html District profile from the Victorian Electoral Commission]
* [http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/images/maps/PrahranDistrictMapLR.pdf District map from the Victorian Electoral Commission (PDF)]