Bragg by-election results: Liberal Jack Batty wins close race but blue-ribbon seat now marginal

One of SA’s last blue-ribbon Liberal electorates is now a marginal after the party copped another battering despite its new MP scraping over the line.

A collapse in the Liberal vote in the former heartland seat of Bragg in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs means the one-time blue ribbon stronghold has become a marginal seat, as the party’s nightmare 2022 continues.

Liberal candidate Jack Batty will become the new MP for Bragg, replacing former deputy premier Vickie Chapman, but he only narrowly scraped over the line, leading Labor’s Alice Rolls 50.9 per cent to 49.1 per cent when the Electoral Commission completed counting Saturday night.

On a two-party preferred basis there was a 6 per cent swing away from the Liberals. On primary votes there was a 7.3 per cent swing against the Liberals. Greens candidate Jim Bastiras took 17.8 per cent of the primary vote, almost 5 per cent higher than at the March 19 state election.

The Bragg by-election was required after former Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman quit parliament just weeks after the March 2022 state election resulted in a Labor landslide and installed Peter Malinauskas as premier. It meant the voters of Bragg had to front up to three elections in four months.

Ms Chapman won Bragg, a seat she had held for 20 years, by 17.4 per cent at the 2018 election, but that was reduced to 8 per cent in March. Last night, Ms Rolls even managed to win the Liberal heartland booth of Burnside.

Opposing Bragg candidates Alice Rolls and Jack Batty with wife Charlotte, sharing a humorous moment, at the Glenunga High School. Picture: Dean Martin

Liberal leader David Speirs said “by elections are always tricky and the timing of this one was particularly difficult’’.

Earlier in the day, Mr Speirs said a win in Bragg would be a sign “that South Australians still have faith in our cause’’.

“A win in Bragg is the first of many stepping stones that will lead to a return to government in 2026 for the Liberal Party,’’ he said.

“We’ve still got so much work to do and the Bragg by-election has been a crucial opportunity to road test the new direction of the Liberal Party with voters as we mount a case over the coming years to once again lead this state.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas paid tribute to Ms Rolls and said it was a “really strong, really surprising result’’. Since the state election, Labor has replaced its candidate Rick Sarre with 43-year-old lawyer Ms Rolls.

Mr Malinauskas declined to comment on whether the result was a verdict on his government’s performance since the March 19 election but said “make no mistake, we are going to keep doing what we said we would do’’.

“We’re delivering on our election commitments and I’m really determined to make sure we do that,’’ he said.

The 31-year-old Mr Batty, a former Liberal staffer and who worked for Australia’s High Commissioner in London, said he had “not taken anything for granted’’.

“There is no such thing as a safe Liberal seat anymore,’’ Mr Batty said.

He also urged those who had voted Green to consider the Liberal Party in the future.

“I think the people of Bragg care about environment and what I want to tell them is that if you care about the environment, you can vote Liberal,’’ he said.