Electoral district of South Perth

South Perth is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in Western Australia. The district is located in the suburbs immediately south of the Perth central business district.

South Perth Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
Location of South Perth (dark green) in the Perth metropolitan area
State	Western Australia
Dates current	1901–1904; 1950–present
MP	Geoff Baker
Party	Labor
Namesake	South Perth
Electors	29,696 (2021)
Area	27 km2 (10.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Metropolitan

Although occasionally held by an independent, South Perth has typically been a safe Liberal seat. It had never been won by the Labor Party until Geoff Baker won it for the party at the 2021 election.

Geography

South Perth is made up of affluent waterside areas in Perth's inner south. The district is bounded to the north by the Swan River and to the west and south by the Canning River. A series of roads separates the electorate from neighbouring eastern districts. The seat includes the suburbs of Como, Karawara, Manning, Salter Point, Waterford, as well as parts of the suburbs of Kensington and South Perth.

History

South Perth was first created for the 1901 state election, largely replacing the abolished seat of Canning, and won by William Gordon. However, Canning was re-created for the 1904 election and South Perth abolished, with Gordon transferring to Canning.

South Perth was eventually revived for the 1950 state election and has existed continuously as an electorate since then. In 1950, it was won by Liberal candidate George Yates, previously the member for Canning. He was succeeded after one term by Bill Grayden, initially as an independent but soon after as a Liberal. Grayden had previously been the state member for Middle Swan and the federal member for Swan. Grayden was the member for South Perth for 37 years, finally retiring in 1993.

The seat's next MP was Phillip Pendal, first elected as a Liberal but twice re-elected as an independent. Upon Pendal's retirement at the 2005 state election, the seat returned to the Liberal fold when current member John McGrath was elected as its representative. McGrath held the seat until his own retirement at the 2021 election and was succeeded by Geoff Baker. Baker's win was historic as he became the first Labor candidate to win the seat.

Members for South Perth

South Perth (1901–1904)
Member		Party	Term
	William Gordon	Ministerial	1901–1904
South Perth (1950–present)
Member		Party	Term
	George Yates	Liberal Country League	1950–1956
	Bill Grayden	Independent Liberal	1956–1959
		Liberal Country League	1959–1968
		Liberal	1968–1993
	Phillip Pendal	Liberal	1993–1995
		Independent	1995–2005
	John McGrath	Liberal	2005–2021
	Geoff Baker	Labor	2021–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of South Perth

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 Western Australian state election (Legislative Assembly) § South Perth.[edit]

2021 Western Australian state election: South Perth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Geoff Baker	12,473	49.9	+20.3
	Liberal	Ryan Chorley	8,846	35.4	−14.7
	Greens	Mark Brogan	2,597	10.4	−1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Taylor	617	2.5	+2.5
	No Mandatory Vaccination	Dwain Hill	440	1.8	+1.8
Total formal votes			24,973	97.0	+0.6
Informal votes			780	3.0	−0.6
Turnout			25,753	86.7	+0.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Geoff Baker	15,007	60.1	+17.3
	Liberal	Ryan Chorley	9,962	39.9	−17.3
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+17.3

External links

• ABC election profiles: 2005 2008
• WAEC district maps: current boundaries, previous distributions