ALP 1.4%
Incumbent MP
Jon Gee, member for Napier since 2014.
Geography
Northern fringe of Adelaide. Napier covers Elizabeth Downs, Blakeview, Evanston South, Kudla, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains, parts of Craigmore and Davoren Park as well as semi-rural One Tree Hill and Uleybury. The electorate covers parts of Playford and Gawler council areas, although none of the suburbs of the Gawler urban area.
Redistribution
King replaced Napier, and shifted south to take in parts of Little Para and Wright. King lost Smithfield, Smithfield Plains and Davoren Park to Taylor, Elizabeth Downs, Blakeview and Craigmore to Elizabeth and Munno Para to Light. King gained Salisbury Park, Salisbury Heights and Hillbank from Little Para and Golden Grove, Salisbury Plain and Greenwith from Wright. These changes reduced the Labor margin from 9.1% to 1.4%.
History
King is a new name for the seat of Napier, which has existed since the 1977 election, and has always been held by the ALP.
Terry Hemmings won Napier for the first time at the 1977 election. He held the seat until his retirement in 1993.
Annette Hurley won Napier at the 1993 election. Hurley was elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1997.
In 2002, Hurley switched to the marginal Liberal seat of Light in an attempt to bring the ALP closer to forming government. Hurley missed out, and thus missed out on serving as Deputy Premier in the new Rann government.
Hurley went on to win a Senate seat in 2004. She served on the Labor frontbench from 2005 to 2006, and completed her term in 2011.
Michael O’Brien was elected in Napier in 2002. O’Brien was re-elected twice, and served as a minister from 2009 until he retired in 2014.
Labor’s Jon Gee won Napier in 2014.
Candidates
Sitting Labor MP Jon Gee is running for the neighbouring seat of Taylor.
- Damon Adams (Greens)
- Giles Rositano (SA Best)
- Gary Balfort (Conservatives)
- Julie Duncan (Labor)
- Paula Luethen (Liberal)
Assessment
Labor’s hold on King is much weaker than the previous seat, and the party lacks an incumbent. If there is a swing to the Liberal Party they’d have a good chance of winning.
2014 election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Jon Gee | Labor | 9,689 | 47.6 | -7.2 | 41.4 |
| Robert Leggatt | Liberal | 6,206 | 30.5 | +4.0 | 40.7 |
| Gary Balfort | Family First | 2,741 | 13.5 | +3.7 | 8.5 |
| Sam Miles | Greens | 1,722 | 8.5 | +2.9 | 6.5 |
| Others | 1.7 | ||||
| Dignity for Disability | 1.2 | ||||
| Informal | 906 | 4.3 |
2014 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Jon Gee | Labor | 12,024 | 59.1 | -7.1 | 51.4 |
| Robert Leggatt | Liberal | 8,334 | 40.9 | +7.1 | 48.6 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in King have been divided into three areas: east, south and west.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in two out of three areas, with 50.9% in the south and 51.8% in the west.
The Liberal Party achieved 52.7% in the east.
| Voter group | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| East | 47.3 | 6,683 | 31.7 |
| West | 51.8 | 4,894 | 23.2 |
| South | 50.9 | 4,055 | 19.3 |
| Other votes | 53.2 | 5,430 | 25.8 |
Two-party-preferred votes in King at the 2014 SA state election
My prediction: With no SA Best or sitting MP, this will be a test of the old Red vs Blue fight… The Liberals could gain this easily, although word has it Labor has the upper hand.