Australia's far-right party wins first lower house seat

Australian far-right populist party Pauline ​Hanson's One Nation won its ​first seat in the country's ‌House ​of Representatives in a byelection on Saturday, a preliminary vote count showed. The result is in line ‌with a surge of electoral support for far-right populist parties globally. Britain's ruling Labour party this week suffered a widespread loss of seats at council elections. David ‌Farley, a former agribusiness executive, won the rural seat of Farrer, some ‌550 km (340 miles) south of Sydney and 320 km (200 miles) north of Melbourne, for the anti-immigration party with a projected vote of 59.1%, defeating the incumbent centre-right Liberal Party, ⁠according ​to the Australian Broadcasting ⁠Corp. "It's very clear, the next member for Farrer is David Farley," Australian Broadcasting Corp ⁠election analyst Casey Briggs said in a broadcast. "It's not a close result."

The result ​is significant in that it marks the first time One Nation has ⁠won a lower-house seat since Hanson formed the party 30 years ago. But it does ⁠not ​affect the parliamentary majority of the ruling Labor Party, which holds 94 of 150 lower-house seats. The seat was left vacant when ⁠Liberals leader Sussan Ley resigned in February. The Labor Party did not run a ⁠candidate in the ⁠contest for the seat that has been held by the opposition conservatives since it was formed more than half ‌a ‌century ago.

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