Leon Bignell: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:25, 3 June 2006

Latest revision as of 06:43, 14 March 2025

(105 intermediate revisions by 68 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

'''Leon Bignell''', [[Australia]]n [[politician]], is the member for [[Electoral_district_of_Mawson|Mawson]] for the [[Australian Labor Party]]. He finished ahead of incumbent Liberal member [[Robert Brokenshire]] by 3.9% on first preference and 2.2% of two party preferred in the [[South_Australian_legislative_election%2C_2006|2006 state election]], delivering the seat to Labor for the first time since it was lost in the [[South_Australian_legislative_election%2C_1993|1993 election]] landslide.

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]

| name = Leon Bignell

|image = Leon Bignell.jpg

| honorific_suffix = [[South Australian House of Assembly|MP]]

| office1 = 38th [[Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly]]

| term_start1 = {{start date|2024|04|11|df=y}}

| term_end1 =

| predecessor1 = [[Dan Cregan]]

| successor1 =

| office2 = Member of the [[South Australian House of Assembly]] for [[Electoral district of Mawson|Mawson]]

| term_start2 = 18 March 2006

| term_end2 =

| predecessor2 = [[Robert Brokenshire]]

| successor2 =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1966|7|30}}

| birth_place =

| party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (since 2024)

| otherparty = [[Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)|Australian Labor Party (SA)]] (until 2024)

}}

'''Leon William Kennedy Bignell''' (born 30 July 1966),<ref name="birth">{{Cite news|date=1966-08-01|title=Birth notices|work=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]]}}</ref> is an [[independent politician]] and former journalist representing the [[Electoral district of Mawson]] since the [[2006 South Australian state election|2006 election]].

Bignell is engaged to member for [[Electoral_district_of_Bright|Bright]] [[Chloe Fox]] who also happened to reclaim her seat for Labor during the [[South_Australian_legislative_election%2C_2006|2006 state election]]. Previous to his entry in to parliament he was a high-profile ABC sports reporter and more recently a media adviser to [[Pat Conlon]]

==External LinksBackground==

{{BLP unsourced section|date=March 2018}}

[http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Internet/DesktopModules/memberdrill.aspx?pid=3117 Parliament Profile]

Bignell was a high-profile [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] sports reporter and later a media adviser to [[Patrick Conlon (politician)|Pat Conlon]].

==Political career==

[[Category:Australian politicians]]

Bignell finished ahead of incumbent [[Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division)|Liberal]] member [[Robert Brokenshire]] with a 52.2 percent two party preferred vote at the [[2006 South Australian state election|2006 state election]], delivering Mawson to Labor for the first time since it was lost in the [[1993 South Australian state election|1993 election]] landslide. He increased his two-party-preferred vote to 54.4 percent at the [[2010 South Australian state election|2010 election]], bucking not only the statewide trend, but decades of voting patterns in the seat. Mawson was Labor's second most marginal seat, and on paper it should have been among the first to be lost to the Liberals in the event of a uniform swing large enough to topple Labor from office. Bignell's victory was critical in allowing Labor to eke out a narrow two-seat majority.

Bignell increased his majority to 55.6 percent at the [[2014 South Australian state election|2014 election]], again against the statewide trend.

The [[2018 South Australian state election#2016 draft redistribution|2016 draft redistribution]] ahead of the [[2018 South Australian state election|2018 election]] proposed to redistribute Bignell's seat of [[electoral district of Mawson|Mawson]] from a 5.6 percent Labor seat to a notional 2.6 percent Liberal seat, taking in areas down the coast as well as [[Kangaroo Island]].<ref>[http://edbc.sa.gov.au/redistributions/current-commission/draft-redistribution-report-2016/download.html Draft Report (PDF): Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission 15 August 2016]</ref><ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-15/sa-electoral-boundary-shift-complaints/7735388 Electoral boundary reform in South Australia does not go far enough, Opposition says: ABC 15 August 2016]</ref><ref>[http://indaily.com.au/news/politics/2016/08/15/libs-seething-after-another-boundaries-blow/ Libs seething after another boundaries blow: InDaily 15 August 2016]</ref><ref>[http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/electoral-boundaries-redraw-the-reaction/news-story/058df493d569b943a3d2098a0640b09d South Australian electoral boundaries redraw: The reaction: The Advertiser 16 August 2016]</ref>

Bignell is affectionately known as "Biggles" in media circles, and was once caught drawing caricatures of his opposition colleagues while in the chamber.<ref name="doodles">{{cite news | last = Duffy | first = Mike | title = Biggles' doodles waste oodles of time | work = [[The Advertiser (Australia)|The Advertiser]] | date = 25 October 2006 | url = http://blogs.news.com.au/adelaidenow/straightshooter/index.php/adelaidenow/comments/bigells_doodles_wastes_oodles_of_time/ | access-date = 2006-10-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080415014243/http://blogs.news.com.au/adelaidenow/straightshooter/index.php/adelaidenow/comments/bigells_doodles_wastes_oodles_of_time/ | archive-date = 15 April 2008 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Bignell was engaged to Labor colleague and former member for Bright [[Chloë Fox]] between March 2006 and March 2007.<ref name="bignell">{{cite news | title =Trackside at the Cup: Russian to conclusions? | work =[[The Advertiser (Australia)|The Advertiser]] | date = 13 March 2007 }}</ref>

Bignell entered [[Cabinet of South Australia|cabinet]] in January 2013 as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Recreation and Sport and Minister for Racing in the [[Jay Weatherill|Weatherill]] Labor cabinet until the [[2018 South Australian state election|2018 state election]].<ref>[http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/index.php/ministers Cabinet of South Australia: Premier.sa.gov.au] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921063339/http://www.premier.sa.gov.au/index.php/ministers |date=21 September 2015 }}</ref>

He is aligned with Labor's left faction.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/left-mp-tony-piccolo-refuses-to-back-move-on-rights-kevin-foley/story-e6frgczx-1225844277239|title = Left MP Tony Piccolo refuses to back move on Right's Kevin Foley|last = Owen|first = Michael|date = 2010-03-23|access-date = 2016-01-20|newspaper = The Australian}}</ref>

Bignell has temporarily become an independent from April 2024 to sit as [[Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly]].<ref>https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-11/sa-government-cabinet-reshuffle-geoff-brock-resigns/103694936</ref><ref>https://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/Search/Member?type=member&id=3117</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

*{{cite SA-parl |pid=3117 |name=Bignell, Leon |former= |access-date=19 August 2022}}

*[http://sa.alp.org.au/alp/state-mps/leon-bignell Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor website]

&nbsp;

{{s-start}}

{{s-off}}

{{s-bef |before=[[Gail Gago]] }}

{{s-ttl |title=Minister for Tourism |years=2013–2018 }}

{{s-aft |after=[[David Ridgway (politician)|David Ridgway]] |as=Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment }}

{{s-bef |before=[[Tom Kenyon]] }}

{{s-ttl |title=Minister for Recreation and Sport |years=2013–2018 }}

{{s-aft |after=[[Corey Wingard]] |as=Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing |rows=2}}

{{s-new }}

{{s-ttl |title=Minister for Racing |years=2014–2018 }}

{{s-bef |before=[[Gail Gago]] |rows=2}}

{{s-ttl |title= Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries |years=2014–2018 }}

{{s-aft |after=[[Tim Whetstone]] |as=Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development |rows=2 }}

{{s-ttl |title=Minister for Forests |years=2014–2018 }}

{{s-par|au-sa-la}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Robert Brokenshire]]}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member for [[Electoral district of Mawson|Mawson]]|years=2006–present}}

{{s-inc}}

{{s-end}}

{{SACurrentMHAs}}

{{Presiding officers of Australian legislatures}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bignell, Leon}}

[[Category:1966 births]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Members of the South Australian House of Assembly]]

[[Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia]]

[[Category:Labor Left politicians]]

[[Category:21st-century Australian politicians]]