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Vickie Ann Chapman is a former Australian politician, representing the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Bragg for the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia between the 2002 election and May 2022. Chapman served as the Deputy Premier of South Australia and Attorney-General between 19 March 2018 and 22 November 2021 in the Marshall government. She was the first woman to hold either post.
Chapman has previously served as deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2006 to 2009, and became deputy leader again in 2013. In that capacity, she served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition between 30 March 2006 and 4 July 2009, and again between 4 February 2013 and 19 March 2018. She was also the Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for State Development, having gained the extra portfolio of State Development in a cabinet reshuffle on 13 January 2016.
Chapman's father, Ted Chapman, was a member of the Liberal and Country League and then the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the South Australian House of Assembly. A Liberal moderate, Ted was a member of the Steele Hall-led Liberal Movement faction in the 1970s and Agriculture Minister in the David Tonkin government. As a young girl, Chapman assisted her father in Liberal campaigns for office.
Chapman immediately joined the front bench, assuming the shadow portfolios of Education and Children's Services. She was soon touted by some quarters, within her party and in the media, as a future Liberal leader. In other quarters, however, Chapman was seen as a continuation of the factional battles that have long plagued the SA Liberals.
The Liberals were cut down to only 15 seats at the 2006 election landslide. Chapman herself suffered a substantial 6.8-point two-party swing, but still retained Bragg with a comfortable majority of 12.6 percent, leaving Bragg as the only safe Liberal seat in Adelaide and one of only four safe Liberal seats statewide. Chapman was elected as deputy Liberal leader, and hence Deputy Leader of the Opposition, in an unexpected joint ticket with factional rival Iain Evans. Strong backing was received from federal Sturt MP Christopher Pyne, a longtime factional ally of Chapman, as well as another prominent boss of the SA Liberals' moderate faction, former Premier Dean Brown. She retained the deputy's post when Martin Hamilton-Smith ousted Evans as leader in 2007.
Hamilton-Smith called a leadership and deputy leadership spill for 4 July 2009. Chapman ran against Hamilton-Smith for the leadership, but received only 10 votes, against Hamilton-Smith's 11, with Evans abstaining. Conservative Isobel Redmond was elected to the deputy leadership to replace Chapman. Hamilton-Smith called another leadership spill to take place on 8 July 2009, in an attempt to gain a more decisive mandate, but two days prior to the spill, he announced he would not run. Chapman again ran for the leadership but received only 9 votes, against Redmond's 13. Steven Griffiths was elected deputy leader 8 votes to 6 for Mitch Williams.
Chapman was reappointed deputy opposition leader on 4 February 2013, and chose to announce she would rule out challenging new leader Steven Marshall.
Upon the fourth consecutive Liberal loss at the 2014 election, Chapman suffered a 1.5-point two-party swing but still retained Bragg with a comfortably safe 68.7 percent two-party vote. After the Liberal party won the election at the 2018 election, she was sworn in as Deputy Premier of South Australia.
Chapman retained her seat in parliament at the 2022 South Australian state election, despite a swing against her party which resulted in a change of government. A month after the election, Chapman announced her intent to resign from parliament. She officially resigned on 31 May 2022, with her successor to be elected in a by-election on 2 July 2022.
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