LABOR'S LOSS IN IPSWICH WEST CLEAR SIGN OF A LOOMING STATEWIDE PROTEST VOTE

The LNP's upset win in the recent Ipswich West by-election is a resounding boost to opposition leader David Crisafulli's chances of beating Steven Miles statewide in October. 

Undoubtedly, the victor Darren Zanow managed to triumph in hardcore Labor heartland largely because he was already a well respected local businessperson who had developed a personal connection and rapport with many Ipswich locals, namely through his role as the Ipswich show director. 

The result is strongly indicative that a lot of traditional Labor voters in Ipswich West are fed up with Steven Miles and his directionless and rudderless government, and even if Zanow had not contested it, that they would have voted for any alternative to Labor to vent a vote of no confidence towards the Miles government. 

All the indications are is that the result in Ipswich West has a lot of tentacles stretching across Queensland and that the state election in October is shaping up to be a major "protest vote" against not only Miles as a leader but Labor as a whole. If the LNP cannot score at least minority government from this position in October something is radically skew-whiff.