Steven Marshall

On 31 January 2013 after Redmond resigned as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia, Marshall was speculated to succeed her. At the ballot on 4 February 2013, Marshall was elected unopposed.[22] A record, Marshall was the fifth consecutive Leader of the Opposition from the same party.

The 2014 state election was held on 15 March. Marshall faced Labor leader Jay Weatherill who had replaced Mike Rann in 2011. Leading up to the election, the SA Liberals had led Labor in every recorded Newspoll since 2009. The election resulted in a hung parliament with 23 seats for Labor and 22 for the Liberals with the Liberals winning a majority of the two party preferred vote. The balance of power then rested with the two crossbench independents, Bob Such and Geoff Brock. Such did not indicate who he would support in a minority government before he went on medical leave for a brain tumour, diagnosed one week after the election. University of Adelaide Professor and Political Commentator Clem McIntyre said the absence of Such virtually guaranteed that Brock would back Labor – with 24 seats required to govern, Brock duly provided support to the incumbent Labor government, allowing Weatherill to continue in office as head of a minority government with Brock given a ministry portfolio.[23]

The day before the election, Marshall made a political gaffe, saying without realising at the time "If people in South Australia want change, they want a better future, they want to grow our economy then they need to vote Labor tomorrow".[24][25][26] Marshall contested Dunstan, essentially a renamed version of Norwood, and suffered a small 1.7% two-party (2PP) swing − a swing against the Liberals occurred in seven of the nine Liberal-retained metropolitan seats.^a

After the election, Marshall continued to lead the Liberals in opposition.[27] Former Liberal leader Martin Hamilton-Smith became an independent two months after the election and indicated his support for the government.[28] Following the death of Such and the subsequent 2014 Fisher by-election which Labor won by five votes from a 7.3% 2PP swing away from the Liberals, Labor went from minority to majority government. Brock and Hamilton-Smith maintained their confidence and supply support for the government which provided a 26 to 21 parliamentary majority.[29]

The 2018 state election was held on 17 March. The July to September 2014 Newspoll had seen Labor begin to lead the Liberals on the two-party-preferred vote for the first time since 2009.[30] The October to December 2015 Newspoll saw Marshall's leadership approval rating plummet 11 points to 30%, the equal lowest Newspoll approval rating in history for a South Australian Opposition Leader since Dale Baker in 1990.[31][32][33] At the election, Marshall again faced Weatherill and Labor which were seeking a record fifth term in office and the 'wild card' centrist party, SA-Best, led by former Senator Nick Xenophon who was seeking the balance of power in the Assembly. The 2016 electoral redistribution had given the Liberals an advantage of 27 seats to Labor's 20 seats heading into the election.

Four hours after the close of polls on election day, at approximately 10pm ACDST, Weatherill telephoned Steven Marshall and conceded defeat. Marshall was introduced to the election day function by former Liberal Premier John Olsen and claimed victory saying, "A massive thank you to the people of South Australia who have put their trust, their faith in me and the Liberal team for a new dawn, a new dawn for South Australia!" The SA Liberals had won the election with 25 seats to Labor's 19, a bare majority of two–the first time the Liberals had won a state election since Olsen's victory in 1997.[34][35][36][37] Despite the outcome, there was actually a state-wide two-party-preferred swing away from the Liberals toward Labor.[38]

Two days after the election, with the result beyond doubt even though counting was still underway, Marshall had himself, deputy leader Vickie Chapman, and Father of the South Australian Parliament Rob Lucas sworn in as an interim three-person government by the Governor of South Australia, Hieu Van Le. Marshall became Premier, Chapman Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, and Lucas Treasurer. Lucas had previously served as Treasurer in the last Liberal government.[39] The full ministry was sworn in on 22 March.[40] In addition to serving as Premier, Marshall retained responsibility for portfolio areas of The Arts, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Defence and Space Industries, Veterans' Affairs and Multicultural Affairs, although these were no longer named as ministries.[41]

In late 2018, Arts South Australia was dismantled and its functions transferred to direct oversight by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.[42][43][44] On 11 January 2020, Marshall assumed[45] the responsibilities of the Tourism ministry when he relieved David Ridgway of the role in the immediate aftermath of the devastation of key South Australian tourist areas during the 2019–20 bushfires.[45]

Following the resignation of David Ridgway on 26 July 2020, Marshall assumed the role of Minister for Trade and Investment.