2024 Sydney City Council election

2024 Sydney City Council election

← 2021 14 September 2024 2028 →

First party Second party Third party   Candidate Clover Moore Zann Maxwell Sylvie Ellsmore Party Team Clover Labor Greens First preference vote 22,314 10,384 8,102 Percentage 36.84% 17.14% 13.38%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Candidate Lyndon Gannon Yvonne Weldon Sean Masters Party Liberal YWI Libertarian First preference vote 6,653 6,522 2,229 Percentage 10.98% 10.77% 3.68%

Lord Mayor before election Clover Moore Team Clover Subsequent Lord Mayor Clover Moore Team Clover

The 2024 Sydney City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect nine councillors and a lord mayor to the City of Sydney. The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales, Australia.^[1]

Incumbent Clover Moore was re-elected to a record sixth term as Lord Mayor of Sydney.^[2]

Like in all other LGAs and at state elections, Sydney City Council elections use optional preferential voting (OPV). Under OPV, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates.^[3]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation.^[4] Sydney is an undivided council and uses an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting.^[5]

Voting is compulsory for anyone on the NSW state electoral roll.^[6]

In NSW, property owners, rate-paying occupiers or lessees can apply to be on the "non-residential roll" in an LGA, as long as they are not already enrolled as a resident in that area and if they are eligible to be enrolled for state and federal elections.^[7] Voting is not compulsory for those on non-residential rolls, although it is still compulsory in the LGA where they are on the residential roll.^[8]

However, in 2014, then-Liberal premier Mike Baird introduced a law for that gave businesses that own, lease, or occupy rateable land in the City of Sydney two votes each.^[9] Voting for businesses in Sydney also became compulsory.^[10] Many critics saw the decision as an attempt by the Liberals to unseat Clover Moore as lord mayor.^[11] The business vote came into effect at the 2016 election and was again in force at the 2021 election.^[12][13]

Following Labor's victory at the 2023 state election, independent MP Alex Greenwich wrote to the new local government minister, Ron Hoenig, requesting that the business vote was removed.^[14]

On 13 September 2023, Hoenig formally announced that the business vote would be removed, starting at the 2024 election.^[15] Eligible people will still be able to apply to be on the non-residential roll, however only one person would now be entitled to be enrolled on behalf of non-residents − the same as all other LGAs.^[15]

The Libertarian Party contested Sydney City Council for the first time, choosing Sean Masters as their lord mayoral candidate.^[18] The party ran on the slogan "No Moore" and called for "keeping ideology out of council".^[19][20]

Socialist Alliance campaigned on a platform of creating an "anti-racism and anti-war council" with "housing, environmental, and economic justice".^[21]

All candidates are listed in ballot paper order.

Incumbent councillors are highlighted in bold text.^[31][32][33]

• Linda Scott (Labor) − announced 7 June 2024^[34]
• Shauna Jarrett (Liberal) − lost preselection