Electoral district of Unley

Unley is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after the suburb of the same name, it is the state's smallest electorate by area at just 14.1 km2 (5.4 sq mi). It is a suburban electorate in Adelaide's inner south, taking in the suburbs of Eastwood, Frewville, Fullarton, Glenside, Glenunga, Goodwood, Highgate, Hyde Park, Kings Park, Malvern, Myrtle Bank, Parkside, Unley, Unley Park and Wayville, as well as parts of Glen Osmond and Millswood.

Unley
South AustraliaHouse of Assembly
Map of Adelaide, South Australia with electoral district of Unley highlighted
Electoral district of Unley (green) in the Greater Adelaide area
StateSouth Australia
Created1938
MPDavid Pisoni
PartyLiberal Party of Australia (SA)
NamesakeUnley, South Australia
Electors26,211 (2018)
Area14.1 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
DemographicMetropolitan
Coordinates34°57′5″S 138°37′0″E / 34.95139°S 138.61667°E / -34.95139; 138.61667
Electorates around Unley:
West Torrens Adelaide
Dunstan
Bragg
Badcoe Unley Bragg
Elder Waite Waite
Bragg
Footnotes
Electoral District map[1]

Unley was created as a conservative seat. It was first contested at the 1938 election, where it was held by conservatives until the 1962 election, when Gil Langley captured the seat for Labor. Unley was one of the seats that put Labor in government at the 1965 election after decades of the Playmander in opposition, with Labor managing to retain Unley in the close 1968 and 1975 elections and the 1979 election loss. Langley was succeeded by Labor's Kym Mayes at the 1982 election, a state government minister. In the close 1989 election Labor again managed to retain Unley. However, Mayes was heavily defeated at the 1993 election landslide by Liberal Mark Brindal on a swing of over 12 percent, on paper turning Unley from marginal Labor to safe Liberal at one stroke. Brindal went on to serve as a minister in the government of John Olsen.

The electoral redistribution ahead of the 2002 election had a large effect on Unley, which lost several suburbs west of Goodwood Road while gaining several suburbs east of Fullarton Road, changing Unley from a marginal seat to a fairly safe to safe Liberal seat.[2] This helped Brindal retain Unley with only a small swing against him as the Liberals lost government.

Brindal relinquished preselection of Unley prior to the 2006 election, contesting instead the electoral district of Adelaide held by the then Minister for Education, Jane Lomax-Smith. Despite a statewide Labor landslide, David Pisoni narrowly won with a 51 percent two-party vote despite a challenge from City of Unley mayor and Labor candidate Michael Keenan. It has since reverted to a fairly safe to safe Liberal seat.

Members for Unley

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Member Party Term
  John McLeay Independent 1938–1941
  Colin Dunnage Liberal and Country 1941–1962
  Gil Langley Labor 1962–1982
  Kym Mayes Labor 1982–1993
  Mark Brindal Liberal 1993–2006
  David Pisoni Liberal 2006–present

Election results

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2022 South Australian state election: Unley
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal David Pisoni 12,019 49.2 −2.7
Labor Ryan Harrison 7,825 32.1 +8.8
Greens Georgie Hart 4,577 18.7 +9.6
Total formal votes 24,421 98.2
Informal votes 439 1.8
Turnout 24,860 90.1
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal David Pisoni 12,737 52.2 −9.4
Labor Ryan Harrison 11,684 47.8 +9.4
Liberal hold Swing −9.4

Notes

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  1. ^ Electoral District of Unley (Map). Electoral Commission of South Australia. 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2018.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Green, Antony. "Unley – SA election 2014". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

References

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