Peter Malinauskas cements position as most popular premier with 20 per cent by-election swing

Having coughed up former premier Steven Marshall’s seat of Dunstan to Labor in March, the Liberals have now been trounced in the once-safe seat of Black, where former party leader David Speirs has quit politics amid a drug scandal.

Victorious Labor candidate Alex Dighton with Premier Peter Malinauskas on election day at Woodend Primary School. Picture: Brett Hartwig

Peter Malinauskas has cemented his position as the most popular Labor leader in Australia after the South Australian Liberals suffered a second humiliating and historic defeat at a by-election this weekend.

Having coughed up former premier Steven Marshall’s seat of Dunstan to Labor in March, the Liberals have now been trounced in the once-safe seat of Black, where former party leader David Speirs has quit politics amid a drug scandal.

The last time a government won a seat from an Opposition at a by-election in SA was in the 1910s – now Labor has done it twice in one year.

The Liberals held the seat by 2.7 per cent but Labor candidate schoolteacher Alex Dighton has registered swings of up to 18 per cent on early counting and is ahead 60-40 two party preferred.

His lead is unassailable and there is no way Liberal candidate Glenelg Mayor Amanda Wilson can catch up on pre polls.

Labor by-election winner Alex Dighton arrives at his victory party at the Cobra Football Club with his family and Premier Peter Malinauskas.

The result was so emphatic that new Liberal leader Vincent Tarzia who has been in the job for just 11 weeks conceded defeat at 8pm Saturday, two hours after polls closed.

Mr Tarzia said the Liberals must “respect the message that has been sent to us tonight”.

“There’s only one way forward … and that is to be better,” he said.

“We’ve got to be better, we’ve got to be united, we’ve got to be focused, we’ve got to be disciplined. We have 16 months to turn it around … we’ve got to make sure that we connect with voters right across the state.”

Liberal Party figures told The Australian the loss had been “a debacle” which they attributed to poor candidate selection, the loss of Mr Speirs’ personal vote and the ascendancy of Peter Malinauskas.

: Former South Australian Liberal leader David Speirs appeared in Christies Beach Magistrates Court on a drug supply charge. Picture: NewsWire/Dean Martin

Labor successfully targeted Ms Wilson as an outsider who as Glenelg Mayor did not live in the electorate and who as the head of Holdfast Bay Council had jacked up council rates beyond inflation.

One party figure said the Liberals constant infighting and the attention-grabbing nature of Mr Speirs’ drug allegations had many voters turn away from them at pre-poll labelling the party “a rabble”.

“Beyond that it was case of “We love Mali,’” the Liberal figure said.

The Liberals now hold just 13 of 47 seats in the SA House of Assembly, their equal lowest representation ever.