Moderate Dave Sharma wins NSW Liberal Senate spot after beating both Peter Dutton-endorsed candidates

Former Wentworth Liberal MP Dave Sharma is returning to parliament after emerging victorious in the NSW Liberal Senate race in what was largely a conservative field.

Sharma beat fellow moderate Andrew Constance, who was billed as the front runner, and hard-line conservative and former junior minister in the Morrison government, Zed Seselja, to take the seat opened up by Marise Payne’s resignation.

Ten candidates put up their hand for the Senate spot, in what was an unusually large field even for the NSW Liberals. The battle was seen internally as shaping the future direction of the party, with moderate Liberals hoping to push back against the party’s shift further to the right.

Liberal leader Peter Dutton had endorsed both Constance and Seselja for the position, but Sharma emerged on Sunday as a consensus candidate, winning the final vote against Constance.

The electronic voting system momentarily failed, adding drama to a tense day.

Seselja, who also had the backing of Tony Abbott and Jacinta Price, had promised to move from the ACT – which he had represented in the Senate from 2013 until his loss to independent David Pocock at the last election – to NSW within six months if he won.

Seselja was the last conservative standing, making it to the second last round of voting, but lost out going through to the final round by 14 votes.

That set up a final battle between Sharma and Constance, with Sharma ultimately winning 251 votes to Constance’s 206.

Sharma thanked Payne for her “extraordinary contribution” to public life and said he was “privileged” to have the opportunity to follow her.

“I believe strongly in the need to safeguard Australia’s future for our children and so I have always been drawn to public service,” he said.

“The opportunity to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation’s national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil.”

Seselja had campaigned on a “war on woke”, while fellow conservative Monica Tudehope had hoped to appeal to the 700 or so Liberal electors with more traditional conservative values, including protecting children from social media algorithms. Western Sydney Liberal power broker Lou Amato had withdrawn from the race just days ahead of the vote in what was reportedly a protest about some of the back room conservative dealings.

Sharma’s return to the Liberal party room is seen as a win for the moderates who had seen their numbers drastically fall after the 2022 election, when they lost their inner-city seats to teal independents.

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With a redistribution coming ahead of the next election, Constance is thought to be turning his attention once again to the seat of Gilmore, which he lost to Labor’s Fiona Phillips in the 2022 poll.

Conservative Jess Collins came fourth in the vote. Monica Tudehope, who had been seen as a potential dark horse of the race, finished sixth behind former NSW RSL head James Brown.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley welcomed Sharma’s return to the parliament as a “fitting” replacement for Payne.

“As deputy leader of the Liberal party, I have taken a particular involvement in helping our federal team win back seats lost to the independents at the last election,” she said.

“Dave is someone who very much appeals to that cohort of voters which we need to win in 2025, and I am looking forward to working with him to ensure we win back seats in the city, the suburbs and regions.”

Sharma’s selection still needs to be officially endorsed by the NSW parliament before he is able to return to Canberra.