Liberals officially declare victory in seat of Adelaide

LIBERAL Rachel Sanderson will become a minister on Thursday as she holds her lead in vote counting for the seat of Adelaide.

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LIBERAL Rachel Sanderson will become a minister on Thursday as she holds her lead in vote counting for the seat of Adelaide.

The incumbent MP is 400 votes ahead on a two-party preferred basis after further counting.

There are more than 700 votes yet to be counted, but Ms Sanderson officially declared victory Tuesday night.

She has managed to hold off a strong challenge from Labor candidate Jo Chapley.

Ms Sanderson has held the city seat since 2010 and was the Liberals’ child protection spokeswoman in opposition.

She will be sworn in as Child Protection Minister when the new Cabinet visits Government House on Thursday.

“I’m really looking forward to representing the people of Adelaide in my new role,” Ms Sanderson said.

The seesawing count continues to fluctuate in the seat of Mawson, stretching from the southern suburbs to Kangaroo Island.

Incumbent Labor MP Leon Bignell was leading Liberal challenger Andy Gilfillan by 198 votes, up from a lead of just 88 the previous day.

Mr Bignell said there were up to 2500 more votes to be counted.

“You can’t get too excited about it, you can’t stress ... you’ve just got to keep on hanging on,” he said.

A redraw of the electoral boundaries shifted a large part of the neighbouring Liberal electorate into Mawson, handing former minister Mr Bignell an enormous challenge.

Despite that, Labor strategists are increasingly confident.

The Electoral Commission will accept postal votes until Saturday. A final count will be done on Sunday.

However, if the result is too close either party could request a recount.