Premier Daniel Andrews with wife Catherine and children Noah (left),Grace and Joseph on Saturday night.Credit:Joe Armao
The government was predicted to win 52 seats as of Sunday night.
Predictions of a surge in the independent vote did not translate into a wave of extra seats. Three country independents were likely to lose their seats to Nationals candidates.
Monash University politics senior lecturer Zareh Ghazarian said the polls had consistently found that Labor would win the election.
“They were indicating that really throughout the pandemic that Labor remained popular,” he said. “Overall the trend was pretty much what happened:voters weren’t really frustrated with the Labor government in big numbers.”
Mathew Guy conceding defeat on Saturday night.Credit:Jason South
He said the consistency in the polls should encourage confidence in their methodologies.
Unlike the official opinion polls,internal party research often briefed out to the media proved far less accurate.
Internal Liberal research showed the opposition was polling well in several key seats,a prediction that proved fanciful on Saturday night.
Labor sources had also told reporters during the campaign they feared frustration with Andrews over the state’s prolonged lockdowns could cause them serious damage in the outer suburbs.
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