Labor has claimed victory in the Kiama byelection, winning the seat vacated by convicted rapist Gareth Ward.

A win for Labor’s Katelin McInerney, the frontrunner, is a feat not seen in NSW since 1996 – the flipping of a seat in a byelection that goes for, rather than against, the government.

Labor’s Katelin McInerney celebrates her win at the Albion Park Bowling Club. Credit: Janie Barrett

While preference flows will change the final count, the disastrous result for the Liberals means leader Mark Speakman’s position could be in jeopardy.

By 9.30pm, the primary vote count had Labor on 37 per cent with the Liberals on 26 per cent. Loading

Liberal Serena Copley conceded just before 8.30pm.

“Where do we go from here? We could go around that corner there, curl up in a foetal posit

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