Division of Sarda

The Division of Sarda is a Craftian federal division in the state of Addams. It was created in 2043, and first contested at the federal election later that year. The division is named after longtime National United Party MP and diplomat Dinesh Sarda (1966–2035). It is the first federal division named after an Indian Craftian. The seat is provincial, covering the western coastal outskirts of the city of Bonestan.

The sitting member, since the 2070 federal election, is Di Reliford, a member of the Liberal Party of Craftia.

History
Like many other semi-rural areas of Addams, Sarda has historically been fairly safe for the Craftian Conservative Party. The division has always covered a similar area to its current form, anchored in the semi-rural and industrial coast to the west of Bonestan. However, increasing urbanisation has significantly changed the electorate's demographics, and much of the eastern half of the seat is now covered by low density peri-urban housing estates. Over the years the area has become gentrified and the voters who have joined the electorate are generally affluent, but socially liberal, thus are natural voters for the Liberal Party. The western half of Sarda remains more rural and Conservative-leaning.

Although originally considered a fairly safe Conservative seat, having been held by the party since its creation, Sarda has successively become more marginal in recent years. This posed little risk as long as the rising Liberals failed to overtake the National United Party on preferences. In the 2070 election, the Liberals did exactly that, despite finishing third on first preferences. Strong preferences from minor parties pushed the Liberals ahead of United, and strong United preferences carried Liberal candidate Di Reliford over the line to finish with a 54.89% two-party-preferred result, causing the Conservatives to lose the seat for the first time in its history.