Losing a heartland seat to a teal marks the continuing decline of the Liberals in northern Sydney

NSW teal candidate for Pittwater, Jacqui Scruby, is part of a larger wave of independents winning votes. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

While the Liberal party managed to hold on to two of the three seats holding byelections on Saturday, it was undoubtedly a bad result and a disappointment, with the seat of Pittwater lost to an independent.

This is not the first time that a party has lost a seat in a byelection to an independent – indeed it’s not even the first time this has happened to the Liberal party in Pittwater – but it is the continuation of a decline in the position of the Liberals in northern Sydney, in an area that was once their heartland.