Sturt MP James Stevens under siege from Labor’s Sonja Baram

Liberal MP James Stevens has taken a slight lead over Labor challenger Sonja Baram, but the seat hangs in the balance with votes nearly evenly split.

Liberal MP James Stevens has gained a slight lead over Labor in Sturt, hitting 50.4 per cent of the two party-preferred vote by 6.30pm on Sunday.

About 72 per cent of votes have been counted.

More than 16 per cent of Sturt electors backed Greens at the ballot boxes amid a wave of new support for the party across the country that has been described as a “Greenslide”.

The high Greens vote helped Labor’s Sonja Baram to 49.6 per cent of the two party-preferred tally via preferences on Sunday evening.

“There was a clear message sent by the voters of Sturt, given the growth of the Green vote. It was not as severe as in similar seats to Sturt in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, but nonetheless I have heard that message loud and clear,” Mr Stevens said on Sunday.

During the day, Mr Stevens had said he was hopeful of postal votes boosting his share and getting him across the line, albeit with his previous margin of 6.9 per cent completely slashed.

But Mr Stevens is confident the numbers will fall in his favour.

“I have a nervous wait, but I’m hopeful that the postal votes will be in line with previous results and I think I can hang on by the skin of my teeth,” Mr Stevens said.

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Greens candidate Katie McCusker experienced a significant swing of 6.7 per cent in her favour.

Mr Stevens was met with applause as he arrived at his election party at the Robin Hood Hotel just after 10pm.

He said on election night the seat was still too close to call.

“I think we are bringing home a victory here in Sturt,” he said

“It is a tight contest and it’s too early to call a result.”

Earlier, the crowd’s turned sombre as Labor’s election win came to light.

Mr Stevens said it was a devastating night for the Liberal Party.

“We’ve lost an election tonight... it’s devastating,” Mr Stevens said.

“We’ve lost future ministers and a future prime minister in my view.

“We are going to have to have a very deep reflection in Liberal Party about what has happened to us tonight.

“If I hold my seat, I’ve had a very significant swing against me and I won’t fail to listen to that message that’s been sent to me from the people of Sturt.”

Among the Mr Stevens supporters was former Attorney-General Vickie Chapman who said she remained optimistic that James Stevens would overcome a swing against him in the seat of Sturt.

“Clearly it’s neck and neck,” Ms Chapman said.

“We’ve had quite a significant pre-poll compared with our state election so postal votes will be critical.”

Liberal MP James Stevens for the electorate of Sturt at the Burnside Primary School this morning. Picture: Monique van der Heyden

Ms Chapman said having 11 candidates run for the seat makes it a unique situation.

“Lots of parties are very conservative parties, and of course, the Greens have played a significant role, which will naturally favour the Labor Party,” she said.

“This is why it makes it so difficult to be able to predict.”

There were roars from Labor Party in Brompton early on in the night when live results showed the party etching ahead of the Liberals in both Sturt and Boothby.

However, Member for Adelaide Steve Georganas was reluctant to join in on the early cheers, saying there were still plenty of votes to go.

“We are all still fairly hopeful at this point … If we continue the way the results are showing now we may form government,” he said.

“The Liberal vote here has collapsed, you look at the state election and now this, their ship is no longer being steered.”

Mr Georganas was also complimentary of his cross town candidates in Boothby’s Louise Miller Frost and Sturt’s Sonja Baram and they look for a Labor sweep of metro seats.

Labor Sturt candidate Sonja Baram at East Torrens Primary School in Hectorville. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“It’ll be huge, we have worked hard not just these last six weeks but these last three years.”

There were suggestions throughout the campaign that the Liberal Party’s stronghold on the seat might fall for the first time since 1972.

The seat was formerly held by frontbencher Christopher Pyne before Mr Stevens was elected in 2019 with a 6.9 per cent margin.

He soared to victory over Cressida O’Hanlon by more than 15,000 votes

But the once-safe Liberal seat had been on a knife’s edge for the entirety of this year’s campaign

Pre-polling data suggested Labor challenger Sonja Baram had closed the gap on Mr Stevens.

According to a YouGov poll, Mr Stevens was locked in a dead heat with Labor candidate Sonja Baram, sharing 50 per cent of two-party preferred support.

It prompted Anthony Albanese to make an eleventh-hour push on the final day of the campaign by visiting the electorate alongside former prime minister Julia Gillard in a bid to win over undecided voters.

Originally published as Sturt MP James Stevens under siege from Labor’s Sonja Baram