It is hardly surprising that the battered and bruised Liberal Party does not want to surrender one of its last bastions of metropolitan Sydney without a fight. To give up on Bradfield, which has been in Liberal hands for 75 years, would be the final nail in the coffin for the party, which has watched its heartland turn teal or, in the case of John Howard’s former seat of Bennelong, stay firmly red.

Liberal for Bradfield Gisele Kapterian votes on May 3.Credit: Steven Siewert

The Liberals have an exceptional offering in Gisele Kapterian, who still has a frontbench spot on hold for her in the hope that she, and not her teal nemesis Nicolette Boele, ends up in Canberra. But for her sake and the party’s, the Liberals should accept the loss in Bradfield, learn its lessons and focus on rebuilding the NSW division ahead of its next battle: the 2027 state election.

The party’s only hope of retaining Bradfield rests on petitioning the Court of Disputed........

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