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Queensland’s opposition leader, Steven Miles, says he has caucus support to remain Labor leader “right now”, after the party suffered a swing against it at a byelection in the north of Brisbane.
Labor is expected to retain the northern Brisbane seat of Stafford but recorded an 8% swing against it on primary votes. The ALP candidate, Luke Richmond, was ahead of the Liberal National party candidate, Fiona Hammond, by about 700 votes on Sunday afternoon.
Queensland’s electoral commission has yet to declare the byelection result but the premier, David Crisafulli, conceded defeat on Saturday night, saying the LNP had fallen “agonisingly short”.
Labor was well behind on primary votes but had picked up a strong majority of preferences from minor parties, independent candidates and the Greens.
The byelection was called after the sudden the death of former Labor MP turned independent Jimmy Sullivan on 9 April. Sullivan had been expelled from the party in 2025 after winning re-election in 2024.
The seat has been held by Labor for most of its history, including Sullivan’s father Terry serving as the member from 2001 to 2006.
Conceding the seat on Saturday night, Crisafulli praised his party for an “incredible campaign”.
“I do think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, guys,” he said. “I think we’re going to fall agonisingly short, but boy oh boy, what an incredible campaign from an incredible, incredible candidate.”
Crisafulli said the swing to the LNP’s Hammond was “a swing to an incumbent government that we’ve not seen the likes of for 100 years”.
“This is a disastrous result for the Labor party, a disastrous result for Steven Miles personally,” he said.
Miles claimed victory at Labor’s packed election-night party, held at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel.
Asked if Labor would do better if it were led by someone else, Miles said that would be “a decision for the caucus, but I have the support of the caucus right now to be leader”.
On Sunday, Miles said “our team is united”.
Standing alongside Miles on Sunday, senior Labor MPs Cameron Dick, Grace Grace and Shannon Fentiman all said they backed his leadership.
“One hundred per cent, because he’s the best person to lead the team,” Dick said.
Fentiman said: “Steven is absolutely the best person to lead us, and we are 100 per cent behind him.”
Miles said Hammond, a former Labor state secretary, would be a “community champion who will work hard to represent his community”.
He attributed Labor’s victory to its campaign against what the party said was a 93-bed cut at the local Prince Charles hospital.
“What is clear is that the 2028 election will be fought on the LNP’s health cuts and those battle line will have been drawn right here in Stafford,” Miles said.
With a margin of 5.3%, Stafford was the 12th-closest Labor seat at the 2024 election and was considered marginal. Labor had lost it just once since it was re-established in 2001.
A number of factors complicated the byelection for Labor.
The Greens’ how-to-vote card did not recommend its voters preference either Labor or the LNP, unlike in 2024.
The LNP result was also buoyed up by One Nation’s decision not to stand a candidate.
The left vote was split among a large number of leftwing independents and minor parties, including a high-profile Queensland Socialists-backed candidate, Liam Parry, and the Animal Justice and Legalise Cannabis parties, which stood for the first time.
Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff defended One Nation’s decision not to stand a candidate, saying it would have been a waste of party resources.
James Ashby said the short four-week campaign did not give One Nation enough time to give a candidate a chance in the electorate.
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This article was amended on 17 May 2026. An earlier version included an incorrect reason for the late independent MP Jimmy Sullivan’s expulsion from the Labor party. Sullivan was expelled over medical concerns after not following a “safe return-to-work plan”.
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