1982 Mitcham state by-election

1982 Mitcham state by-election

←  1979 8 May 1982 Nov. 1982  →
Electoral district of Mitcham in the South Australian House of Assembly
Turnout	85.5% ( 8.0)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Robert Worth Heather Southcott John Hill Party Liberal Democrats Labor Primary  vote 6,461 3,084 3,367 Percentage 45.9% 25.9% 23.9% Swing 8.6 19.2 6.6 2PP 49.7% 50.3% 2PP swing 4.4 4.4
MP before election Robin Millhouse Democrats Elected MP Heather Southcott Democrats

The 1982 Mitcham state by-election was held on 8 May 1982 to elect the member for Mitcham in the South Australian House of Assembly.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former state Democrats MHA Robin Millhouse. The Liberal Party was expected to win the seat, but Democrats candidate Heather Southcott was heavily favoured by Labor party preferences, and was a surprise winner.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Liberals won the seat six months later at the 1982 state election.

Results

The Australia Party, who contested the previous election and gained 0.3 percent, did not contest the by-election. The Democrats retained the seat by 45 votes.

1982 Mitcham state by-election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Worth	6,461	45.9	+8.6
	Democrats	Heather Southcott	3,653	25.9	−19.2
	Labor	John Hill	3,367	23.9	+6.6
	National	Ross Osmond	543	3.8	+3.8
	Libertarian	Victor Kirby	66	0.5	+0.5
Total formal votes			14,090	98.0	−0.1
Informal votes			286	2.0	+0.1
Turnout			14,376	85.5	−8.0
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Democrats	Heather Southcott	7,090	50.3	−4.4
	Liberal	Robert Worth	7,000	49.7	+4.4
	Democrats hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• List of South Australian House of Assembly by-elections

References

1. History of South Australian Elections 1857 - 2006 Volume 1: ECSA, Dean Jaensch, ISBN   978-0-9750486-3-4