This changed in 1993, when the retirement of the Labor incumbent, the unpopularity of the state Labor government, and the addition of the Clare Valley at a redistribution saw Liberal Barry Wakelin become the fifth non-Labor member to win it, and only the second in 50 years.
The Liberals consolidated their hold on the seat ahead of the 2004 election with the addition of the Yorke Peninsula and the state's upper east, both historically strongly conservative areas, from the heavily redistributed seat of Wakefield.