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Churchlands is an Electoral district of Western Australia. As in other districts, the Churchlands district elects a single person to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The elected person is then known as the Member for Churchlands, and is said to hold the seat of Churchlands. As of 1996, the Member for Churchlands is Elizabeth Constable who holds the seat as an Independent by a margin of 21.6%. The seat in 2009 is expected to be retained by Elizabeth Constable.
[edit] Profile
Covers 29 km² of the inner northern suburbs of Perth between the Mitchell Freeway and the Indian Ocean, generally north of The Boulevard and south of Scarborough Beach Road. It includes the suburbs of Wembley Downs, Churchlands, Woodlands, and parts of Scarborough, Doubleview, Innaloo, City Beach, Glendalough, Floreat and Wembley. The electorate includes both Lake Herdsman and Lake Monger.
[edit] History
Then known as Floreat, this seat was won by Independent Dr Liz Constable in a July 1991 by-election following the death of former MP Andrew Mensaros. She had originally intended to contest Liberal Party pre-selection, but chose not to when it became clear the activities of the party's right-wing faction would prevent her winning. She instead ran and won the by-election as an Independent, winning even more emphatically at the 1993 state election in a contest with no Labor candidate. At the 1996 State election, Constable coasted over the line when the Liberal Party did not nominate a candidate, but even with a full complement of major party candidates in 2001, she polled 46.6% of the primary vote, hardly needing the Labor preferences that delivered her a comfortable victory.
