Electoral district of Camden
{{for|the Legislative Council district pre-1856|Electoral district of County of Camden}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox Australian Electorate |
|name = Camden
|state = nsw
|image = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=NSW Electoral District 2023 - Camden.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|frame-latitude=-34.05|frame-longitude=150.72|zoom=11|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=100px}}
|caption = Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
|lifespan = 1859–1920, 1981–current
|mp = Sally Quinnell
|mp-party = Labor
|namesake = Camden, New South Wales
|electors = 70392
|electors_year = 2019
|area = 228
|class = Outer-metropolitan
| near-n = Badgerys Creek
| near-ne = Leppington
| near-e = Campbelltown
| near-se = Campbelltown
| near-s = Wollondilly
| near-sw = Wollondilly
| near-w = Wollondilly
| near-nw = Wollondilly
}}
Camden is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's south-west. It is currently represented by Sally Quinnell of the {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} party, who achieved a 13% swing in the 2023 election.
Geography
On its current boundaries, Camden takes in the suburbs of Bickley Vale, Camden, Camden Park, Camden South, Catherine Field, Cawdor, Cobbitty, Currans Hill, Elderslie, Ellis Lane, Gledswood Hills, Grasmere, Gregory Hills, Harrington Park, Kirkham, Mount Annan, Narellan, Narellan Vale, Smeaton Grange, and Spring Farm.{{cite web |title=Camden |publisher=New South Wales Electoral Commission |url=https://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/District-profiles/Camden |access-date=8 Aug 2024}}
History
Camden was originally created in 1859, replacing part of West Camden and named after the town of Camden or Camden County, which includes Camden, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra. It elected two members from 1859 to 1889 and three members from 1889 to 1894, when multi-member electorates were abolished. It was abolished in 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation and absorbed into Cumberland. It was recreated in 1981.{{cite web |title=Elections for the District of Camden 1859-2007 |url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/electionresults18562007/DistrictIndexes/Camden.htm |access-date=30 April 2019 |last=Green |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Green |work=New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007 |publisher=Parliament of New South Wales}} In recent decades it has been a marginal seat, falling to both the {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} and {{Australian politics/name|Liberal NSW}} parties on separate occasions.
Except in 1984-91 and 1995-2003, Camden in its second incarnation, has been held by the government party.
Camden was evident as a bellwether seat at the 1991 election when the ALP lost the seat to the Liberal Party despite the former party making huge gains at that election which was close but not enough for them to win the election. If the ALP had retained Camden in 1991, the party would have been in a strong position to form a minority government when it then won The Entrance by-election in 1992.
Members for Camden
| class="wikitable" style='border-style: none none none none;'
! colspan="8" | First incarnation (1859–1889, 2 members) | ||||||||
| colspan="2"|Member | Party | Term | colspan="2"|Member | Party | Term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| rowspan="9" {{Australian party style|Other}} | | None | 1859–1860 | rowspan="9" {{Australian party style|Other}} | | None | 1859–1860 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| rowspan="4"|John Morrice | rowspan="4"|None | rowspan="4"|1860–1872 | None | 1860–1861 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| None | 1861–1864 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| None | 1864–1869 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| rowspan="2"|Arthur Onslow | rowspan="2"|None | rowspan="2"|1869–1880 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| rowspan="5"|Thomas Garrett | rowspan="4"|None | rowspan="4"|1872–1887 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| None | 1880–1882 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| None | 1882–1885 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| None | 1885–1887 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | 1887–1889 | {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | 1887–1889 | ||||||||
| colspan="12" | 1889–1894, 3 members | ||||||||
| colspan="2" | Member | Party | Term | colspan="2"|Member | Party | Term | colspan="2" | Member | Party | Term |
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | 1889–1891 | rowspan="2" {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | rowspan="2"|William McCourt | rowspan="2"|{{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | rowspan="2"|1889–1894 | rowspan="2" {{Australian party style|Protectionist}}| | rowspan="2"|John Kidd | rowspan="2"|{{Australian politics/name|Protectionist}} | rowspan="2"|1889–1894 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | 1891–1894 | ||||||||
| colspan="4" | 1894–1920, 1 member | ||||||||
| colspan="2" | Member | Party | Term | ||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Protectionist}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Protectionist}} | 1894–1895 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Free Trade}} | 1895–1898 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Protectionist}}| | rowspan="2"|John Kidd | {{Australian politics/name|Protectionist}} | 1898–1901 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Progressive}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Progressive}} | 1901–1904 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Liberal Reform}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal Reform}} | 1904–1913 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Liberal Reform}}| | rowspan="2"|John Hunt | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal Reform}} | 1913–1917 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Nationalist}} | 1917–1920 | ||||||||
| colspan="4" style='border-style: none none none none;' | | ||||||||
| colspan="4" | Second incarnation (1981–present, 1 member) | ||||||||
| colspan="2" | Member | Party | Term | ||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Labor NSW}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} | 1981–1984 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|liberal nsw}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal NSW}} | 1984–1988 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Labor NSW}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} | 1988–1991 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|liberal nsw}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal NSW}} | 1991–2003 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Labor NSW}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} | 2003–2011 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|liberal nsw}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal NSW}} | 2011–2019 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|liberal nsw}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Liberal NSW}} | 2019–2023 | ||||||||
| style="background: #f9f9f9"
| {{Australian party style|Labor NSW}}| | {{Australian politics/name|Labor NSW}} | 2023–present |
Election results
{{main|Electoral results for the district of Camden}}
{{Excerpt|Results of the 2023 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly)|section=Camden}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Electoral districts of New South Wales}}
{{Former electoral districts of New South Wales}}
{{Results of New South Wales state elections}}
Category:1859 establishments in Australia
Category:1920 disestablishments in Australia