THE POLL BLUDGER
South Australian House of Assembly Election 2006

DAVENPORT
Liberal 11.7%

Davenport is located at the outer inland edge of the urban sprawl south of the city, from Bellevue Heights east to Hawthorndene. It has traditionally been a strong seat for the Democrats, who came within 5 per cent of victory in 1997. Since 1993 it has been held by Iain Evans (right), the son of former member Stan Evans and inheritor of his power base in the Right faction, which currently favours him for the party leadership. Stan Evans came to the seat in memorable circumstances in 1985, when a redistribution left him and Dean Brown competing for Liberal preselection. Brown emerged the victor but Evans challenged him at the election as an independent and won, an embarrassing outcome for Brown who was hoping to contest the leadership. Brown returned to parliament in 1992 when Ted Chapman agreed to relinquish Finniss so he could contest the leadership against John Olsen, who was himself returning to state parliament after two years in the Senate thanks to Roger Goldsworthy's retirement in Kavel, as part of the Right's grand plan to replace the floundering Dale Baker with Olsen. This thwarted Evans' own ambitions for Kavel, which was then a safer prospect for the Liberals.

Evans Senior decided to pull the pin altogether and make way for his son at the 1993 election. Evans Junior arrived just in time for a Liberal government and quickly established himself, making it to cabinet in December 1997. He has served in the police, industry, trade and environment portfolios in government, and in planning and industrial relations in opposition. Widely rated as the Liberal Party's best performer in parliament, Evans was discussed as a potential successor when John Olsen was obliged to resign over the Motorola affair in October 2001. It rarely escapes notice that his factional rival to succeed Rob Kerin as leader is Vickie Chapman, daughter of the aforementioned Ted Chapman – perpetuating a rivalry which now spans three decades. Evans achieved a major victory when he defeated Chapman in the deputy leadership vote after Dean Brown's resignation in November 2005, by 15 votes to five.

Labor's candidate for the second election running is local businessman Gerry Bowen (left).

ASSESSMENT: Liberal retain

Iain Evans has arrived at the Liberal leadership after a relatively encouraging personal performance at the election, winning all booths and suffering a 5.3 per cent swing that compared favourably with an Adelaide average of 9.2 per cent. The electorate followed the pattern of others in the Democrats' former Adelaide Hills heartland, with most of their disappearing vote (down 12.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent) ending up with the Greens, who polled 11.4 per cent after declining to field a candidate in 2002. One small consolation the Liberals can take from the election is that they have been liberated from the need to defend seats like this from the Democrats.

OUTCOME: Liberal retain (6.4%)