State South Australia MP Jack Snelling Demographic Metropolitan Area 22.7 km² Elector 24,586 | Created 1970 Electors 24,586 (2014) Founded 1970 Member of parliament Jack Snelling Namesake Thomas Playford IV | |
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Party Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) | ||
Playford is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named after the long serving South Australian premier Tom Playford, it is a 22.7 km² urban electorate in Adelaide's north, taking in the suburbs of Ingle Farm, Para Hills West and Walkley Heights as well as parts of Gepps Cross, Gulfview Heights, Northfield, Para Hills, Para Vista, Pooraka and Valley View.
Playford was created as a safe Labor seat and was first contested at the 1970 election, where it was won by Labor candidate Terry McRae. At the 1989 election, McRae resigned from politics, with the seat won by Labor candidate John Quirke. Though typically a safe Labor seat, the seat technically became marginal, reduced to just a 2.7 percent two-party margin at the 1993 election landslide. At the 1997 election, Quirke resigned to enter the Australian Senate, with the seat won by Labor candidate Jack Snelling, the current sitting member.