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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2025
Division of Boothby, South Australia
Named for: William Boothby (1829-1903), Electoral Commissioner for
SA 1854-1903, SA returning officer for the first federal election
Southern Adelaide: Ascot Park, Brighton, Eden Hills, Glenelg, Mitcham
Enrolment at 2019 election: 123,969
Enrolment at 2022 election: 128,592 (+03.9)
1999 republic referendum: Yes 51.9
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 68.5
2023 Voice referendum: No 52.0
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2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 2.9%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 0.8%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 7.1%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 3.8%
2019 Liberal majority over Labor: 1.4%
2022 Labor majority over Liberal: 3.3%
Status: Very marginal Labor
Labor two-party vote 1983-2022
2022 results
Statistics and history
Division of Boothby
Boothby has existed since South Australia was first divided into electorates in 1903. Until 1949 it covered most
of Adelaide's southern and eastern suburbs and was politically marginal. In
1949 it was made into a very safe Liberal seat, which it remained until the 1993 redistribution shifted it
westwards to take in the politically marginal beachside suburbs. Boothby is a fairly wealthy area - on its
current boundaries no longer among the wealthiest seats, but still with an above-average level of people in
professional and managerial occupations.
Since 1993 Boothby has remained marginal, though until 2022 always retained by the Liberals. Labor ran determined campaigns in 2007
and 2010, and came very close to winning in 2010, but in 2013 the Liberal margin blew out to 7.5%. A swing back to
Labor in 2016 reduced the margin, and there was a further swing to Labor in 2019, reducing the Liberal margin to 1.4%.
The slow drift to Labor in Boothby is typical of upper-income urban seats across Australia. Labor finally captured the seat
in 2024, when upper-income seats across Australia rejected the Morrison government.
Boothby was held from 1966 to 1981 by
John McLeay, a junior minister in the Fraser Government. Since then it has been held
by three Liberal backbenchers:
Steele Hall (a former SA Premier),
Dr Andrew Southcott, who retired in 2016 after 20 years, and
Nicolle Flint, who was a doctoral student and media commentator before her
election. In March 2021 Flint announced that she would not recontest the seat.
Louise Miller-Frost, Labor MP for Boothby since 2022, has held a number of senior posts local and state government, mainly in the
health field. She was General Manager of the City of Burnside 2012-17 and CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society 2020-22. The
Liberals will be keen to regain this seat in 2025, and since it is the only genuinely marginal seat in South Australia it will
attract a lot of attention from both parties.
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