Campaigning on a promise of change and commitment to the community, first-time candidate Nadia Clancy is on a mission to disrupt the historically liberal held seat of Boothby.

As the labor candidate for the marginal Southern Metropolitan electorate, Clancy is contesting the incumbent liberal member Nicole Flint in a seat that has been held by the Liberals since 1949.

Clancy is campaigning with traditional Labor party policies, including creating secure jobs in the electorate, improving hospitals, real action on climate change, and increasing funding for local public schools.

She supports the Labor party’s commitment to reviewing Newstart payments, has defended their policy on franking credits by stating that funding for schools, the NDIS, and the ABC was a priority, and reiterated the need to have an honest and real plan to tackle climate change.

Clancy has also pushed renewable energy production in South Australia and Labor’s proposed $20 million Factory of the Future that will be located within the electorate as opportunities to advance the state’s economy and manufacturing industries.

However, as a first time candidate, Clancy lacks the notability of Flint, the member since 2016 when she took over from Liberal Andrew Southcott.

It is perhaps no surprise then that Clancy is heavily promoting her long-standing connection with the electorate in a bid to sway voters.

This approach is not without substance.

She was born at Flinders Hospital in Bedford Park in 1986, attended both Paringa Park Primary School and Brighton Secondary School, and grew up in Somerton Park. She was exposed to the nature of local politics from a young age through her mother Rosemary Clancy, who served as Brighton Council Mayor, ran in the 2006 state election as the labor candidate for Mitchell, and is currently a councillor for the City of Holdfast Bay.

After graduating from The University of South Australia where she studied media and communications, Clancy embarked on a career as a political staffer for various state and federal members. These include former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd when he was serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Within these roles, she has worked in various policy areas including foreign affairs, health, housing and homelessness, and the environment.

In 2009 Clancy moved to Renmark in rural South Australia to work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer.

Having since returned to the political scene as a staffer and now as a candidate herself, she has spoken out in favour of the banking royal commission, an issue Labor has aggressively targeted Prime Minister Scott Morrison on at a federal level.

Moreover, like many female Labor candidates in this election, Clancy is supported by Emily’s List Australia, an organisation that aims to support and enable “progressive labor women” to be elected through the provision of financial support and mentoring.

Clancy and Labor will be hoping her ties to the area and plans for the electorate are enough to sway swing voters.