A by-election was held for theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly seat ofPittwater on 31 May 1986. It was triggered by the resignation of sittingLiberal MPMax Smith.[1] The by-election was won by Liberal candidateJim Longley.[2]
Labor did not stand a candidate in the by-election, and as a result, this election was almost won by professional surfer and former world surfing championNat Young, who ran on a largely environmental ticket.[3][4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Jim Longley | 10,922 | 42.8 | −15.3 | |
| Independent | Nat Young | 6,177 | 24.2 | +24.2 | |
| Independent | Robert Grace | 5,006 | 19.6 | +19.6 | |
| Call to Australia | Mark Donnelly | 1,451 | 5.7 | +5.7 | |
| Democrats | Graeme MacLennan | 1,290 | 4.9 | +0.7 | |
| Nuclear Disarmament | Virginia Rigney | 643 | 2.5 | +2.5 | |
| Independent | Brett Monk | 62 | 0.2 | +0.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 25,501 | 97.5 | −0.3 | ||
| Informal votes | 649 | 2.5 | +0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 26,105 | 78.0 [a] | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Jim Longley | 13,000 | 53.1 | −12.4 | |
| Independent | Nat Young | 11,468 | 46.9 | +46.9 | |
| Liberalhold | Swing | −12.4 | |||
 Results ofNew South Wales State elections | |||||
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| Legislative Assembly |
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| Legislative Council |
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| By-elections |
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