Glenn Brookes

Glenn Edward Brookes, an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing East Hills for the Liberal Party of Australia from 2011 to 2016. In 2016, he resigned from the Liberal Party and currently sits on the crossbench as an independent.^[1]

Early years and background

Brookes was born at Bankstown Hospital and attended East Hills Primary and High Schools. Leaving school at a young age, he built a successful large business, Sydney Signs, in a monopoly market. He now manages several companies.^[2]

Political career

In 2004, Brookes was elected to serve as a councillor on Bankstown City Council and continues to hold this position.^[3] He first ran for East Hills in the 2003 NSW election, losing to incumbent Labor member Alan Ashton who achieved 68.5 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.^[4] He ran again for East Hills at the 2007 NSW election, losing again to Ashton, on a two-party preferred margin of 64.1 per cent for Labor. Brookes was the recipient of a 3.8-point increase in support from the 2003 election.^[5]

In 2011, Brookes again contested East Hills; Ashton was again his main competitor. Brookes defeated Ashton, with a swing of 14.3 per cent, winning the seat from Labor for the first time in history, and holding the seat with 50.6 per cent of the two-party vote. ^[5] East Hills is the second most marginal government seat in New South Wales behind neighbouring Oatley.^[6][7] Since the seat of East Hills was created in 1953, up until the 2011 NSW election, it had been held continuously by Labor, represented by only three Members of Parliament.^[5] On 21 March 2016, Brookes resigned from the Liberal Party to sit as an independent after his election campaign manager was charged with electoral offences.^[8]

References