In the battle for Melbourne’s Bayside, can fired-up independents snatch seats?

The Brighton beach bathing boxes on the Esplanade. The historically conservative seat was nearly taken from the Liberal party at the 2018 state election by a 19-year-old Labor candidate, Declan Martin. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

There was a moment during the 2018 Victorian state election count when pundits thought a 19-year-old Labor candidate, Declan Martin, was going to snatch the seat of Brighton, held by the conservative side of politics since it was created in 1856.

The university student – who spent just $1,750 on his six-week campaign – told reporters that if he was successful, he was going to have to sort out a lift to parliament because he was still on his L-plates.