Labor has unseated the Liberal Party in the crucial South Australian electorate of Sturt, though voting patterns elsewhere in the state largely held steady.
With 56 per cent of the vote counted, ALP candidate Claire Clutterham has decisively claimed Sturt, securing an almost nine per cent swing towards Labor.
Liberal MP James Stevens had gone into polling day defending the traditionally safe seat in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs with a razor-thin margin of just 0.5 per cent.
Previously held by former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne for 26 years, the seat of Sturt had been under Liberal control since 1972.
“It’s heartland Liberal territory, and winning it back will be tough… It’s a belting, yes,” Pyne admitted.
Claire Clutterham now becomes only the third Labor candidate in history to win the seat.
