Bright is a former electorate for the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

. It was named in honour of Charles Bright, at various times

South Australian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...

Judge,

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

Chancellor, Health Commission chairman, and Electoral Boundaries Commission chairman. Prior to its 2018 abolition, the seat covered southern coastal suburbs of Adelaide including

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, North Brighton, South Brighton, Hallett Cove,

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

Kingston Park Kingston Park is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, about north west of the city centre. It is home to several large retailers, the largest being one of Tesco's flagship stores—at 11,055 square metres (119,000 sq ft) which was also t ...

, Marino,

Seacliff Seacliff comprises a beach, an estate and a harbour. It lies east of North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland. History The beach and estate command a strategic position at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, and control of the area has been conte ...

, Seacliff Park and part of

Somerton Park Somerton Park was a football, greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Newport, South Wales. Football In April 1912 Newport County had been accepted to play in the Southern League for the 1912–13 season. Shortly afterwards, the site ...

. The electorate was created at the 1983 redistribution, to replace the abolished seat of

, as a marginal

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

seat with a notional one percent two-party margin. However, it was won by the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Derek Robertson at the 1985 election, before being won by Liberal

Wayne Matthew Wayne Anthony Matthew (born 14 January 1958) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bright for the Liberal Party from 1989 to 2006. Matthew was elected at the 1989 election, defeat ...

at the 1989 election. He held the seat until his retirement at the 2006 election. Liberal shadow minister Angus Redford left the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

to contest the seat but was defeated by Labor's

Chloë Fox Chloë Catienne Fox (born 22 February 1971) is an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bright from 2006 to 2014 for the Labor Party. Personal life Fox is the daughter of Australian children's auth ...

from a 14.4 percent swing, the largest in the state, amidst a statewide landslide averaging a 7.7 percent swing. After the enactment of the "fairness clause," Bright's boundaries were frequently altered by the

Electoral Commission of South Australia The Electoral Commission SA is an independent office which forms part of the Government of South Australia, and which conducts parliamentary state elections every four years. History In 1907 the then State Electoral Department was establis ...

in order to produce "fairer" electoral boundaries. A shift of a few kilometres along O'Halloran Hill significantly altered the seat's political landscape. Moving the seat to the south shifted the margin in favour of Labor, while moving it to the north benefited the Liberals. As evidence of this, the redistribution ahead of the 2010 election pared Fox's margin from safe 9.2 percent–just on the edge of being safe–to 6.6 percent. At that election, the Liberals picked up a 6.2 percent swing, just short of picking up the seat, with Labor retaining the seat on a 0.4 percent margin, making Bright Labor's most marginal seat following the 2010 election. Liberal

David Speirs David James Speirs (born December 15, 1984) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal member of the South Australian House of Assembly since the 2014 state election and leader of the Liberal Party since 19 April 2022. He represented ...

won the seat from a 3.7 percent swing at the 2014 election. Bright was abolished at the 2018 state election following the 2016 electoral redistribution. On paper, it was replaced by

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

. Speirs decided to contest

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, which had absorbed much of Bright's southern portion, at the 2018 state election.

Members for Bright

Election results

References

External links

ABC profile for Bright: 2014

ECSA profile for Bright: 2014

Poll Bludger profile for Bright: 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright Former electoral districts of South Australia 1985 establishments in Australia 2018 disestablishments in Australia Constituencies established in 1985 Constituencies disestablished in 2018