Electoral District of Ashford

Electoral District Of Ashford

Ashford is an electorate for the South Australian Legislative Assembly which includes many of Adelaide's inner south western suburbs. The district forms part of three federal electorates: the Division of Hindmarsh, the Division of Boothby, and the Division of Adelaide.

The electorate's name derives from the name given by early settler Charles George Everard to his property 'Ashford' in 1838 that was thought to have the best orchard in the colony. The name was also given to a suburb within the electorate. The electorate includes the suburbs of Cowandilla, Hilton, Mile End South, Keswick, Richmond, Marleston, Kurralta Park, Ashford, Forestville, Everard Park, Plympton, Glandore, Black Forest, Clarence Park and parts of Wayville, Goodwood, North Plympton, Plympton Park, South Plympton, Edwardstown, Millswood and Clarence Gardens. The electorate covers an area of approximately 15.4km².

The district of Hanson was renamed to Ashford in 1997. When the electoral laws were changed so that electoral boundaries had to take voting patterns into account, Hanson was re-drawn as a Labor electorate in 1993, which caused Heini Becker to move to Peake (now known as West Torrens), however it was still narrowly won by Liberal candidate Stewart Leggett. Currently the seat is held by Labor member Stephanie Key who defeated Liberal Stewart Leggett at the 1997 election. Her Liberal challenger at the 2006 election was Kevin Kaeding, however Key increased her two party preferred margin to 16.1%.