Division of Mayo

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The Division of Mayo is an Australian Electoral Division located in the hills, east of Adelaide, South Australia and currently includes the towns of Victor Harbor, Lobethal, Mount Barker, Strathalbyn and Woodside.

First proclaimed in 1984, the division is named for Helen Mayo, a social activist and the first woman elected to an Australian University Council. It has been held by Alexander Downer, a senior member of the conservative Liberal Party, since its proclamation.

At its creation in 1984, Mayo was a rural based electorate that stretched from the seaside town of Victor Harbor to the Adelaide Hills. Downer, the son and grandson of former federal politicians, easily won in 1984 and 1987 but faced his first real challenge in 1990 from the Australian Democrats, who traditionally polled better in the area covered by Mayo than anywhere else in Australia. The Democrat candidate polled 21.3% and while Downer retained Mayo on a two party preferred basis comfortably, a swing of 6% away from Downer towards the Democrat may well have seen Downer lose the seat. Interestingly, Democrats leader, Senator Janine Haines, chose to contest the neighbouring Division of Kingston at the 1990 election, losing to the sitting member. It was postulated at the time that if the high profile Haines had contested Mayo, she may have gathered the further 6% required to unseat Downer.

A redistribution following the 1990 elections shifted Mayo to an exclusively Hills based seat and theoretically consilidated Downer's hold on the seat to the detriment of the Democrats. As a result, Downer was comfortably returned at the 1993 and 1996 Australian legislative elections. In 1998, however, Downer, facing six opposition candidates, including high profile Democrats candidate John Schumann, One Nation Party and an independent candidate advocating increased public nudity, was re-elected by a narrow margin. Schumann's 22.4% was the best result for a minor party candidate in Mayo and lost to Downer on a two party preferred basis by only 1.7%, transforming Mayo into one of the more marginal electorates in Australia.

Another redistribution following the 1998 election made Mayo a safer Liberal seat and Downer was again returned comfortably at the 2001 elections, helped partly by an Independent Democrat candidate splitting the Democrat vote. The 2004 elections saw a record eight candidates contest Mayo but again saw Downer be returned comfortably.