Nick Xenophon's success as a political "sole trader" meant he was ill-equipped to lead a party. Photo: AAP/Kelly Barnes

Opinion

How Xenophon lost hope and SA Best deserted the battlefield

In the second and final part of his analysis of what went wrong with Nick Xenophon’s tilt for state parliament, Haydon Manning – a quasi-insider in the SA Best campaign – reveals how the party leader had given up hope for his own election weeks out from polling day.

Opinion

Why the SA Best bubble burst: a quasi-insider's account

Political scientist Haydon Manning ceased commentary on the state election due to his close family ties to Nick Xenophon’s SA Best. However, in the first of a two-part series, he now provides a warts-and-all analysis of what went wrong in the campaign – the lack of funding and seasoned campaigners, and the strategic mistakes from the man who insisted on running the show almost single-handedly.

Local

Capturing our March madness: Bank SA boss finds a new life behind a lens

Peter Hanlon, it seems, has always been a contradiction. A punk-rock loving aesthete who has scaled the upper echelons of Australia’s finance industry and still sits at the helm of the Bank SA board and who, at 63, has recently found a new career path – as an arthouse filmmaker.

Opinion

Richardson: Opposing everything because we're from the Liberal Party

South Australians voted for a Liberal Government – so why are the Libs still acting like the Opposition, Tom Richardson wonders?

Politics

Ousted Conservative tells: 'Hood defection was my idea'

Likely Legislative Council loser Robert Brokenshire concedes it was his idea for Australian Conservatives colleague Dennis Hood to quit the party and join the Liberals, but he insists he will remain with Cory Bernardi’s start-up enterprise if he manages to retain his own seat.