ALP 10.1%
Incumbent MP
Geoff Baker, since 2021.
Geography
Inner south of Perth. South Perth covers suburbs on the south side of the Swan river, including South Perth, Como, Kensington, Karawara and Salter Point. The seat covers most of the South Perth council area.
Redistribution
No change.
History
The seat of South Perth has existed continuously since 1950, and has almost always been held by the Liberal Party. While there has been a few periods of independents winning the seat, Labor had never won South Perth prior to 2021.
Liberal Country League MP George Yates won South Perth in 1950. Yates had represented the seat of Canning since 1947. He held South Perth for two terms, retiring in 1956.
Yates was succeeded in 1956 by Bill Grayden. Grayden had held the state seat of Middle Swan from 1947 to 1949, before serving as a federal MP from 1949 until 1954. Grayden was first elected to South Perth as an independent Liberal, but was an official Liberal from 1959.
Grayden held South Perth for well over thirty years, retiring in 1993. He also served as a minister in the Court government from 1974 until 1982.
Phillip Pendal was elected as the Liberal member for South Perth in 1993, after thirteen years in the Legislative Council. Pendal resigned from the Liberal Party in 1995 and was re-elected as an independent in 1996 and 2001.
Pendal retired in 2005, and the seat was won by Liberal candidate John McGrath. McGrath was re-elected three times, and retired in 2021.
Labor candidate Geoff Baker won South Perth in 2021.
- Geoff Baker (Labor)
- Carl Evers (Greens)
- Jeremy Miles (Nationals)
- Bronwyn Waugh (Liberal)
- Rachel Zhuang (Australian Christians)
Assessment
While Labor managed to win South Perth in extreme circumstances in 2021, the seat had previously been a solid Liberal seat. If the Liberal Party has any kind of recovery they would be expected to win here, while Labor could still win a solid majority without South Perth.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Geoff Baker | Labor | 12,473 | 49.9 | +20.3 |
| Ryan Chorley | Liberal | 8,846 | 35.4 | -14.7 |
| Mark Brogan | Greens | 2,597 | 10.4 | -1.4 |
| Jack Taylor | Liberal Democrats | 617 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
| Dwain J Hill | No Mandatory Vaccination | 440 | 1.8 | +1.8 |
| Informal | 780 | 3.0 |
2021 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Geoff Baker | Labor | 15,007 | 60.1 | +17.3 |
| Ryan Chorley | Liberal | 9,962 | 39.9 | -17.3 |
Polling places have been split into three parts: central, north and south.
Labor’s two-party-preferred vote ranged from 57.8% in the north to 63.4% in the centre.
The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 9.6% in the south to 12.8% in the centre.
| Voter group | GRN prim % | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North | 11.3 | 57.8 | 4,869 | 19.5 |
| Central | 12.8 | 63.4 | 3,513 | 14.1 |
| South | 9.6 | 62.3 | 3,088 | 12.4 |
| Pre-poll | 8.6 | 59.9 | 7,380 | 29.6 |
| Other votes | 11.0 | 59.2 | 6,123 | 24.5 |
Election results in South Perth at the 2021 WA state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party and the Greens.
Red hot preselection race for the Liberals. Hayley Cormann, the wife of Mattias Cormann, was speculated as a leadership contender for the WA state Liberals in the local media. But she may now not even get preselected, facing stiff competition from local government’s deputy mayor Bronwyn Waugh, and South Perth Mayor Greg Milner. South Perth is a seat the Liberals needs to win back if they want to rebuild there party from opposition.
Bronwyn Waugh wins the Liberal party preselection for South Perth. Hayley Cormann came last with only a fifth of the vote.
17% swing 2021… despite history think Labor has a chance to retain.
Wholly within federal Swan?