Premier of South Australia

The premier of South Australia is the head of the South Australian government. They are the leaders of the political party which has a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. Before the 1890s when there was no formal party system in South Australia, politicians usually held liberal or conservative beliefs. The liberals dominated government from 1893 to 1905 with Labor support, with the conservatives mostly in opposition. Labor took government with the support of eight liberals in 1905 when Labor gained more seats than the liberals. The rise of Labor meant the other groups began to become anti-labor parties. The conservatives merged with the Liberal and Democratic Union (formed in 1906) to become the Liberal Union in 1910. No "country" or rural conservative parties have lasted in South Australian state politics. 

Labor formed South Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 state election. This was two weeks after federal Labor formed Australia's first majority government after winning the 1910 federal election. 

List of Premiers of South Australia
The first six Governors of South Australia ran the government from 1836 until responsible government was began in 1856.

 No.  Name  Party  Assumed office  Left office  Period  Picture  1  B.T. Finniss   24 October 1856  21 August 1857  60px  2  John Baker   21 August 1857  1 September 1857  60px  3  Robert Torrens   1 September 1857    60px  4  Richard Hanson     9 May 1860  60px  5  Thomas Reynolds   9 May 1860  8 October 1861  60px  6  George Waterhouse   8 October 1861  4 July 1863  60px  7  Francis Dutton   4 July 1863  15 July 1863  60px  8  Henry Ayers   15 July 1863  4 August 1864  60px  9  Arthur Blyth   4 August 1864  22 March 1865  60px  -  Francis Dutton(2nd time)   22 March 1865  20 September 1865 Total - 193 days  -  Henry Ayers(2nd time)   20 September 1865  23 October 1865  10  John Hart   23 October 1865  28 March 1866  60px 11  James Boucaut   28 March 1866  3 May 1867  60px  -  Henry Ayers(3rd time)   3 May 1867  24 September 1868 Total - 2 years, 197 days  -  John Hart(2nd time)   24 September 1868  13 October 1868 Total - 175 days  -  Henry Ayers(4th time)   13 October 1868  3 November 1868  12  Henry Strangways   3 November 1868   30 May 1870  60px  -  John Hart(3rd time)    30 May 1870  10 November 1871 Total - 1 year, 339 days  -  Arthur Blyth(2nd time)   10 November 1871  22 January 1872 Total - 303 days  -  Henry Ayers(5th time)   22 January 1872  22 July 1873 Total - 4 years, 34 days  -  Arthur Blyth(3rd time)   22 July 1873  3 June 1875 Total - 2 years, 254 days  -  James Boucaut(2nd time)   3 June 1875  6 June 1876 Total - 2 years, 39 days 13  John Colton   6 June 1876  26 October 1877  60px  -  James Boucaut(3rd time)   26 October 1877  27 September 1878 Total - 3 years, 10 days 14  William Morgan   27 September 1878  24 June 1881  60px 15  John Cox Bray   24 June 1881  16 June 1884  60px  -  John Colton(2nd time)   16 June 1884  16 June 1885 Total - 2 years, 142 days 16  John Downer   16 June 1885  11 June 1887  60px 17  Thomas Playford II   11 June 1887  27 June 1889  60px 18  John Cockburn   27 June 1889  19 August 1890  60px  -  Thomas Playford II(2nd time)   19 August 1890  21 June 1892 Total - 3 years, 323 days 19  Frederick Holder   21 June 1892  15 October 1892  60px  -  John Downer(2nd time) conservatism1893 SA election  - Playford replaced Cockburn as premier of a ministerialist minority government on 19 August 1890, and Holder replaced Playford as premier of a ministerialist minority government on 21 June 1892. The Downer Conservative minority government replaced the Holder ministerialist minority government on 15 October 1892. The Kingston Liberal minority government formed following the 1893 election, but non not take office until 16 June 1893 after the Assembly met for the first time. 15 October 1892  16 June 1893 Total - 2 year, 239 days 20  Charles Kingston  liberalism 16 June 1893   1 December 1899  60px 21  Vaiben Solomon  conservatism 1 December 1899  8 December 1899  60px  -  Frederick Holder(2nd time)  liberalism 8 December 1899  15 May 1901 Total - 1 year, 274 days 22  John Jenkins  liberalism 15 May 1901  1 March 1905  60px 23  Richard Butler  conservatism 1 March 1905  26 July 1905  60px 24  Thomas Price  Australian Labor Party (Labor) 26 July 1905  5 June 1909  60px 25  Archibald Peake  Liberal and Democratic Union 5 June 1909  3 June 1910  60px 26  John Verran  Labor  3 June 1910  17 February 1912  60px  -  Archibald Peake(2nd time)  Liberal Union 17 February 1912   3 April 1915 Total - 4 years, 43 days 27  Crawford Vaughan  Labor  3 April 1915  14 July 1917  60px  -  Archibald Peake(3rd time)  Liberal Union 14 July 1917   8 April 1920 Total - 6 years, 312 days 28  Henry Barwell  Liberal Union/Liberal Federation  8 April 1920  16 April 1924  60px 29  John Gunn  Labor 16 April 1924  28 August 1926  60px 30  Lionel Hill  Labor 28 August 1926   8 April 1927  60px 31 Richard Layton Butler Liberal Federation  8 April 1927 17 April 1930  60px  -  Lionel Hill(2nd time) Labor 17 April 1930 13 February 1933 Total - 3 years, 160 days 32 Robert Richards Labor 13 February 1933 18 April 1933  60px  -  Richard Layton Butler(2nd time)  Liberal and Country League (LCL) 18 April 1933  5 November 1938 Total - 8 years, 210 days  33  Thomas Playford IV LCL   5 November 1938  10 March 1965  60px 34 Frank Walsh Labor 10 March 1965  1 June 1967   35 Don Dunstan Labor 1 June 1967 17 April 1968  60px 36 Steele Hall LCL 17 April 1968  2 June 1970   -  Don Dunstan(2nd time) Labor 2 June 1970 15 February 1979 Total - 9 years, 214 days 37 Des Corcoran Labor 15 February 1979 18 September 1979   38 David Tonkin Liberal Party of Australia (Liberal) 18 September 1979 10 November 1982   39 John Bannon Labor 10 November 1982  4 September 1992  60px 40 Lynn Arnold Labor  4 September 1992 14 December 1993   41 Dean Brown Liberal 14 December 1993 28 November 1996   42 John Olsen Liberal 28 November 1996 22 October 2001   43 Rob Kerin Liberal 22 October 2001 5 March 2002   44 Mike Rann Labor 5 March 2002 21 October 2011  60px 45 Jay Weatherill Labor 21 October 2011 19 March 2018 46Steven MarshallLiberal19 March 201821 March 2022As at   47Peter MalinauskasLabor21 March 2022IncumbentAs at   

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