Editing Division of Boothby (section)

==History==
Before 1949 and the creation of the [[Division of Sturt]], Boothby covered most of the southern and eastern suburbs of [[Adelaide]]. For much of the first half-century after Federation, it was one of only three seats based on the capital, the others being [[Division of Adelaide|Adelaide]] and [[Division of Hindmarsh|Hindmarsh]]. The mostly rural seat of [[Division of Barker|Barker]] was then considered a "hybrid urban-rural" seat, stretching from the southern tip of South Australia at least as far as Glenelg and the Holdfast Bay area, and at times even stretched as far as the western metropolitan suburbs of [[Keswick, South Australia|Keswick]] and [[Henley Beach]].

For most of the first half-century after Federation, Boothby was a marginal seat that changed hands several times between the [[Liberal Party of Australia]] (and its predecessors) and the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP). The [[1949 Australian federal election|1949]] expansion of parliament saw parts of the southern portion transferred to the newly created [[Division of Kingston]] and parts of the eastern portion transferred to the newly created Sturt. This saw Boothby change from a marginal Labor seat on a 1.8 percent two-party margin to a marginal Liberal seat on a two percent two-party margin. However, as part of the massive Liberal victory in the 1949 election, the Liberals picked up a 9.3 percent two-party swing, turning it into a safe Liberal seat in one stroke. The Liberals mostly held the seat for the next 73 years as a fairly safe Liberal seat.

There was only one substantial redistribution in the past few decades when Boothby absorbed parts of the abolished [[Division of Hawker]] before the [[1993 Australian federal election|1993 election]]. This cut the Liberal margin by more than half, from a safe 10.7 two-party margin to a marginal notional 4.5 percent two-party margin. However, the Liberals won the seat on a fairly safe 7.8 percent two-party margin. As of 2007, Boothby extended from [[Mitcham, South Australia|Mitcham]] and [[Belair, South Australia|Belair]] in the east to [[Brighton, South Australia|Brighton]] and [[Seacliff, South Australia|Seacliff]] in the west.<ref name=map2007>[http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/profiles/2007/b/boothby.pdf Map of the Commonwealth Electoral Division of Boothby] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213130748/http://aec.gov.au/pdf/profiles/2007/b/boothby.pdf |date=13 December 2010 }}, 2004, reprinted 2007, Australian Electoral Commission.</ref>

Boothby's most prominent member was [[Steele Hall]], who most notably served as [[Premier of South Australia]] from 1968 to 1970. After leaving state politics, Hall served in the Senate before transferring to Boothby in a [[1981 Boothby by-election|1981 by-election]]. Hall retired at the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 election]] and the seat was subsequently held from 1996 to 2016 by [[Andrew Southcott]]. Other notable members include [[Lee Batchelor]], a minister in the [[Chris Watson|Watson]] and [[Andrew Fisher|Fisher]] governments; [[John McLeay, Sr.|Sir John McLeay]], who was [[Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives|Speaker]] from 1956 to 1966, and his son [[John McLeay, Jr.|John, Jr.]], a minister in the [[Malcolm Fraser|Fraser]] government.

At the [[2004 Australian federal election|2004 election]], despite a solid national two-party swing and vote to the Liberals, Boothby became a marginal Liberal seat for the first time in over half a century, with Labor's [[Chloë Fox]] reducing the Liberal margin to 5.4 percent even as incumbent [[Andrew Southcott]] narrowly won enough primary votes to retain the seat without the need for preferences. Labor's [[Nicole Cornes]] reduced Southcott's margin even further to 2.9 percent at the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 election]].  At the [[2010 Australian federal election|2010 election]] Labor's [[Annabel Digance]] came within 638 votes of ending the long Liberal run in the seat.  At 0.75 percent Boothby was the most marginal seat in South Australia. However, Boothby became a fairly safe Liberal seat again at the [[2013 Australian federal election|2013 election]].

In 2015, Southcott announced his retirement from parliament to take effect at the [[2016 Australian federal election|2016 federal election]]. The Liberals preselected doctoral student and newspaper columnist [[Nicolle Flint]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-01/liberals-announce-nicolle-flint-as-its-boothby-candidate/6902666 |title=Liberals announce Nicolle Flint as Boothby candidate in SA to replace veteran Andrew Southcott: ABC 1 November 2015 |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101165530/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-01/liberals-announce-nicolle-flint-as-its-boothby-candidate/6902666 |url-status=live }}</ref> Labor preselected [[2015 Davenport state by-election]] candidate Mark Ward.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-31/steve-georganas-faces-contest-for-labor-pre-selection/6663936 |title=Steve Georganas, former Labor MP, faces contest for Labor preselection for Hindmarsh: ABC 31 July 2015 |access-date=6 January 2016 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017224129/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-31/steve-georganas-faces-contest-for-labor-pre-selection/6663936 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Nick Xenophon Team]] announced Mitcham councillor Karen Hockley as their candidate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nxt.org.au/electorates/boothby/ |title=Boothby - Nick Xenophon Team |access-date=2016-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122161830/https://nxt.org.au/electorates/boothby/ |archive-date=2016-01-22 }}</ref> [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] [[psephologist]] [[Antony Green]]'s 2016 federal election guide for South Australia stated NXT had a "strong chance of winning lower house seats and three or four Senate seats".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/preview-sa/ |title=Election Guide (SA) - 2016 federal election guide: Antony Green ABC |access-date=21 May 2016 |archive-date=9 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709214138/http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/preview-sa/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Flint won the contest.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aww.com.au/latest-news/news-stories/australian-election-still-too-close-to-call-27844 |title=Australian election still too close to call |work=[[Australian Women's Weekly]] |author=Paula Matthewson |date=3 July 2016 |access-date=6 July 2016}}</ref> Flint held on narrowly on 53.5 percent of the two-party vote on a swing of 3.6 percent, making the seat marginal once again.

A redistribution ahead of the [[2019 Australian federal election|2019 federal election]] pared back the Liberal margin to 2.7 percent. This came even as Boothby absorbed [[Glenelg, South Australia|Glenelg]] and much of the [[Holdfast Bay]] area from neighbouring Hindmarsh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal-redistribution-2018/sa/|title=2017-18 Federal Redistribution - South Australia|work=ABC Elections|date=26 June 2018|access-date=9 July 2019|archive-date=29 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729113143/http://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal-redistribution-2018/sa/|url-status=live}}</ref> Flint won reelection again, despite suffering a swing of 1.3 points. With a margin of 1.3 points, Boothby was the most marginal seat in South Australia and one of the most marginal metropolitan Coalition seats in Australia at the 2022 election.

On 26 February 2021, Flint announced her retirement from parliament to take effect at the [[2022 Australian federal election]].<ref>[https://www.smh.com.au/national/liberal-mp-nicolle-flint-announces-she-s-quitting-federal-politics-20210226-p576bb.html: Sydney Morning Herald 26 February 2021]</ref>  Vinnies SA CEO [[Louise Miller-Frost]] was preselected by Labor in mid-2021 and won the seat at the 21 May 2022 Federal election with 4.66% swing. Flint sought to regain Boothby in [[2025 Australian federal election|2025]], but Miller-Frost retained it on a swing of 7.8 percent. This was enough to boost her margin to 11 percent, the strongest result for Labor in the seat's history and enough to make it a safe Labor seat on paper.