Federal election 2019 results: Boothby electorate | Knife-edge battle between Flint and Clancy

It’s South Australia’s most marginal seat and has been targeted by both major parties, but Boothby remains too close to call — although the Liberals gained confidence after late counting.

Incumbent Member for Boothby Nicolle Flint at her election night function at the Edinburgh Hotel. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

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Premier Steven Marshall says he’s confident Nicolle Flint will retain Boothby despite the southern suburbs seat going down to the wire.

Late on Saturday night, Ms Flint edged marginally ahead of Labor’s Nadia Clancy in a nailbiting contest in the state’s most marginal electorate.

At 11pm she led 50.2 per cent to 49.8 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, with 74 per cent of the vote counted.

Mr Marshall told Ms Flint’s election night party at the Edinburgh Hotel in Mitcham that he was confident she would retain the seat “as we should”.

He said the “whole country were against us in Boothby” but and said Labor and the Greens had thrown “every single solitary thing” at the seat.

Ms Flint said the contest remained too close to call as counting continued late into the night. But she remained hopeful she would benefit more than Ms Clancy from almost 5000 postal votes that are yet to be counted.

“It’s a numbers game now. Boothby has always been a marginal seat and we’ll see what happens,” Ms Flint said.

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Ms Clancy said the contest was tight but she was extremely proud of what her team had achieved regardless of the outcome. “We have fought a positive campaign — focused on reliving a fair go for all South Australians, real action on climate change, investment in our schools and hospitals,” she said.

Labor strategists are bracing for a white-knuckle finish, saying Ms Clancy was polling better than expected, but the contest was much too close to call.

The absence of a Centre Alliance candidate led to an increase of almost 9 per cent in Labor’s primary vote, swelling to 36 per cent.

Labor candidate for Boothby Nadia Clancy at Paringa Park Primary School in Brighton on election day. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

The battle for Boothby has been the most hard-fought contest in South Australia, with left-wing activist group Get Up! targeting Ms Flint, who last year supported Peter Dutton’s push for the Liberal leadership.

It’s also been home to a spending spree, with both major political parties making plenty of funding promises.

Ms Flint has held the seat since 2016, taking over from long-serving MP Dr Andrew Southcott. A redistribution reduced the margin from 3.5 per cent to 2.7 per cent.

An Advertiser /You Gov Galaxy poll this week showed Ms Flint leading Ms Clancy 53 per cent to 47 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

Both parties made a swag of pre-election promises in the seat, totalling about $400 million. Boothby is considered the SA seat most likely to change hands at the federal election. Ms Flint — who has had her office targeted by graffiti vandals and been allegedly stalked by a Clarence Gardens man — said the fight to retain Boothby was much fiercer than in 2016.

Casting her vote at Colonel Light Gardens Primary School, Ms Flint again avoided several questions about her support for Peter Dutton in a leadership spill which cost Malcolm Turnbull his job as prime minister late last year.

“I’m asking people to back me,” she said. “Everyone is united behind (Prime Minister) Scott Morrison. Because he is wonderful.”

Ms Clancy said she had been spurred on by text messages of support from her old boss, former prime minister Kevin Rudd, urging her to “keep going, keep fighting”.

“He also taught me you don’t need much sleep to survive,” Ms Clancy said.