Garry Edwards

A property conveyancer, Edwards was elected to Council for the City of Lake Macquarie in 2008 and serves as Deputy Mayor.^[2] He is an active member of the Belmont 16 ft Sailing Club and serves as Director of the Club. He is also a patron of Swansea Football Club.

Edwards won the previously very safe Labor seat from the incumbent member Robert Coombs at the 2011 state election following a previous attempt for the seat at the 2007 state election. Edwards was elected with a swing of 14.0 points and won the seat with 51.1 per cent of the two-party vote.^[3][4] Following his election, Edwards stated that he was yet to make a decision about whether he will continue to sit both on Council and as a member of parliament.^[5]

On 14 August 2014, Edwards stood aside from the parliamentary Liberal Party following the ICAC testimony of Newcastle mayor and property developer Jeff McCloy, who told the Commission he had donated $1,800 cash-in-hand to Edwards' campaign. It is illegal in New South Wales to receive political donations from property developers.^[6]

Edwards stood as an independent candidate for the seat Swansea at the 2015 state election. He received 14% of the primary vote and lost the seat to the Labor candidate Yasmin Catley.