Cressida O’Hanlon is Labor’s candidate for Sturt vacated by Liberal stalwart Christopher Pyne

Labor’s bid to snatch the federal seat of Sturt from the Liberals for the first time in almost five decades will begin today.

Labor’s bid to snatch the federal seat of Sturt from the Liberals for the first time in almost five decades will begin today.

Dispute mediator Cressida O’Hanlon has been selected by Labor to contest the seat held by Liberal powerbroker Christopher Pyne for 26 years.

The former NSW farmer, who said she fell in love with South Australia after moving to the eastern suburbs in 2013 with her husband, told The Advertiser the focus of her campaign would be on the issues she was consistently hearing about from locals.

She said these included matters Mr Pyne had not focused on as a Government Minister.

“People are concerned about growing levels of inequality, they are concerned about climate change, they are concerned about funding for schools and hospitals,” Ms O’Hanlon said.

“They are issues that have existed for a while but people do not believe they are being addressed.

Dispute mediator Cressida O’Hanlon has been selected by Labor to contest the seat held by Liberal powerbroker Christopher Pyne for 26 years. Picture: Tait Schmaal.

“We should judge ourselves by the way we treat the most vulnerable in society and that, to me, is about looking after people who may not have had the same opportunities in life.”

Ms O’Hanlon said her support for Labor began 25 years ago when she suffered through the millennium drought in NSW and felt the Coalition was not talking about climate change.

The announcement that the 46-year-old married mother of four would run for Labor coincides with the Liberal Party undertaking a preselection process to replace Mr Pyne, who announced his retirement last week.

His former staffer, and the man regarded as his protege, James Stevens, is frontrunner for the role. But a push from the conservative side of the party has also seen a number of female candidates putting their names forward.

It is expected Adelaide University-educated Rhodes Scholar and health consultant Rachel Swift; the Liberals Enfield candidate at last year’s state election, Deepa Mathew; trained nurse Ursula Henderson; and Adelaide lawyer Joanna Andrew will put their hats in the ring for the preselection.

Labor state secretary Reggie Martin said the retirement of Mr Pyne provided Labor with a perfect opportunity to secure the seat that has been in Liberal Party hands for all but 55 months and 18 days in the past 70 years.

“Timing has a lot to do with success in politics,” Mr Martin said. “People are looking for somebody that is prepared to keep their focus on home turf.

“We think there is an opportunity in Sturt and we have preselected a fantastic candidate and we are going to run a strong campaign.”

Sturt is classed by the Australian Electoral Commission as a marginal seat at 5.39 per cent.