Tamworth's candidates share their thoughts on electorate's future after NSW election

Despite conceding defeat to the now four-term Nationals incumbent Kevin Anderson, many of the Tamworth electorate's runner-ups said they feel a shift in voters' priorities.

Here's how the seat's major competitors reacted to Saturday's results:

Independent candidate Mark Rodda was not enthusiastic about the results on election night, which saw the Coalition hand over power to Labor for the first time in NSW in 12 years.

"I think all we've done is replace one city-centric government with another city-centric government," Mr Rodda said.

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With the Coalition losing ground in many regional seats, Mr Rodda said Mr Anderson should start worrying about the safety of his own.

"He made a lot of promises in 2019 that weren't delivered on in the past four years ... and in a Labor government where he's not on the government benches, I think we won't see much done for our electorate at all," he said.

As for whether we'll see him on the ballot again in four years, Mr Rodda said it'll depend on "if I've got the energy".

"There might be a younger person that I'd pass the banner on to if they put their hand up," he said.

Victory for the NSW Labor party was called after just a few hours of vote counting, with the ALP nudging closer to a majority government of 47 seats and ahead in a few of the seats too close to call on Saturday night.

It was also a smaller victory for Kate McGrath, the Labor candidate from Gunnedah who saw a 4.7 per cent swing on election night compared to Labor's 2019 showing.

Ms McGrath said the result was "fantastic".

"I knew I was campaigning in a really safe seat, so I wasn't overly optimistic about my own chances. The goal was to be able to contribute towards a change in government," she said.

Ms McGrath said the fact that the National party lost a share of the vote in Tamworth for the first time in over a decade is a sign that the electorate is changing.

"I think it's clear from the fact that the Greens also had a bit of a swing, and Legalise Cannabis did incredibly well, I think it does show that the assumption that people in our electorate are ultra-conservative has been challenged," Ms McGrath said.

She also said she is currently planning to run again in 2027, and in the meantime will be working within the Labor party's internal structure to deliver on promises made during the campaign such as reviewing the Hunter New England Health District and delivering a $100,000 grant to Tamworth's Gomeroi Culture Academy.

"We made a decision very early on that the only commitments we would make were those that were whole-of-government commitments, not seat specific, in terms of outcome," Ms McGrath said.

Greens candidate Ryan Brooke said he's also happy with the election night results, which saw him take 3.5 per cent of first-preference votes, more than any other Greens candidate for Tamworth.

He also said he sees Tamworth becoming "a little more Green" with each election cycle.

"Tamworth was a pretty conservative area traditionally, but with changing demographics the Greens in particular do very well with millennials and Gen Z, and I think that's going to continue as those demographics continue to become bigger voting blocs," Mr Brooke said.

He said he's learned a lot from meeting members of the community during his first-ever campaign and that "there's definitely potential" for him to run again in four years.

For now, however, Mr Brooke said he's happy to get back to having "only one full-time job".

"It make take some time to catch up on sleep. I'm used to getting up at 4:30 each morning now," he said.

Legalise Cannabis NSW saw a similar portion of the vote to the Greens, coming in just behind them at 3.4 per cent of first preferences as of election night.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers saw the biggest loss of votes with a 9.1 per cent swing away from their 2019 showing in the Tamworth seat.

The candidates from those two parties, as well as those from Informed Medical Options party and Sustainable Australia, were not reached for comment on Sunday.

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