Speirs dropped his bombshell announcement this afternoon, following months of speculation about his leadership.

The Liberal Party will now hold a joint-party room meeting on Monday where the leadership will be declared vacant and Speirs’ successor will be elected. Speirs said he will not attend that meeting.

“Today I have advised my Parliamentary colleagues that I have decided to step down as the Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party,” Speirs said in a statement.

“This has not been an easy decision, however I believe it is in my best interests and that of my family.

“I have used the mid-winter break to reflect on my priorities and to speak with family and friends at length about my future.

“Ultimately, I want to spend more quality time with them and the demands of the role as Leader makes this difficult.”

Speirs said he would stay as MP for his southern suburbs seat of Black.

At a press conference later today, he said he intends to contest the 2026 election “at this stage”.

He also suggested the party’s direction would not change under new leadership.

“It’s not easy being leader of the Opposition and doing the job for two years and four months has certainly taken its toll on me, and it’s taken its toll on my family and my friends,” he said.

“It’s extremely easy to throw rocks at the leader of the Opposition and those who are supporting the leader, it’s extremely easy to have different ideas as to how you might do it better.

“It’ll be interesting to see if those ideas are forthcoming in the coming days and if a new leader is able to take the party on a different direction – I suspect not.

“Because I suspect that the foundation that I’ve put in place in terms of the party’s values and the policy platform that we are starting to unroll will leave the party in reasonable, good state heading into the future.”

Speirs was Environment Minister in the Marshall Liberal Government and was elected Opposition leader in April 2022 after former Premier Steven Marshall stepped aside following a heavy state election loss.

The Scottish-born Speirs today conceded the 2026 state election was “always going to be a significant mountain to climb for the Liberal Party”, which only holds 14 Lower House seats compared to Labor’s 27.

David Speirs with his Opposition frontbench in April 2022. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Speirs’ position came under question when he travelled to Scotland for a family member’s wedding earlier this year during the State Budget and was not here to deliver the Opposition’s Budget Reply.

Leadership speculation was also rife following the Liberal Party’s damaging loss in the Dunstan by-election in March 2024.

Speirs is factionally unaligned: he pursued progressive reforms in the environment space but also championed conservative causes on social issues.

Today, he expressed frustration at factional “groupings” within the party.

“The party has got particular challenges associated with it being a grassroots, membership-based organisation,” Speirs said.

“The party has got different groupings within it, of course, one of my strengths, one of my offerings, was that I wasn’t part of those groups.

“I came from Hallet Cove, came up through the community, through volunteer work, onto council, into parliament, Environment Minister and then leader of the Opposition.

“I thought that sort of different approach for a Liberal Party leader might be what the party was after – I guess that’s just not the case.

“I’ve seen speculation based on speculation based on nothing over recent weeks emerge in the papers and the Twitter-sphere and the like.

“And to be honest, I’ve just had a gutful.

“I don’t have the energy to fight for a leadership that, quite frankly, in the current circumstances, I just don’t want to pursue anymore.”

Speirs, before leaving the press conference, at which he did not take questions from the media, said: “I was probably a different type of leader for the Liberal Party, a different background, a different geographical location from the party’s traditional leaders.”

“The party’s never been led by someone from the southern suburbs before, the party’s only ever had leaders from the east and from the regions.

“I think I brought something different. And I reflect: Was I a bit early? Was it too soon for me to lead the party?

“Or was the party simply not ready for me to lead it?”

Speirs’ resignation comes two weeks after he issued a public challenge on ABC Radio to potential leadership aspirants, asking them to challenge him if they believed they could win the leadership.

Speirs said now was the right time to depart the role 18 months away from the next state election to “give the next Leader the best possible opportunity to succeed in 2026″.

“One thing you won’t get from me is sniping from the sidelines going forward,” he said.

Among the potential replacements mentioned in Liberal circles include prominent moderates John Gardner and Josh Teague and Opposition health spokesperson Ashton Hurn, who is currently on maternity leave.

Teague ran against Speirs for the Liberal Party leadership in 2022, losing 18 votes to five.

Exiting Opposition leader David Speirs (right) and deputy leader John Gardner (left). Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Opposition transport spokesperson Vincent Tarzia is also frequently mentioned as a leadership contender.

Tarzia today thanked Speirs for his “hard work as leader of the party”, adding: “Following his announcement, I’ll be talking to colleagues and focusing on helping the team to win in 2026″.

Vincent Tarzia, who ran for deputy leader of the Liberal Party in 2022. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

After ascending to the party leadership in April 2022, Speirs vowed to lead a party with a “traditional centre-right approach”.

“I think Australians want a party that’s pretty much politically centre – some people want it slightly right of centre, some people want it slightly left of centre, but we’re a pretty centrist country and that’s the kind of leadership you’ll get from me,” he said at the time.

Speirs’ tenure as leader has been marred by factional infighting, with an emboldened Right-faction led by conservative senator Alex Antic exerting increased influence on the party’s internal functions.

Last year, Mackillop MP Nick McBride quit the Liberal Party, citing “dark forces” within the party.

Premier Peter Malinauskas today said he has “always enjoyed really good, professional cordial relations” with Speirs.

“I’ve got some regard for him as an individual. I want to acknowledge his service and thank him for it,” he said.

“Being leader of the Opposition is a really difficult job when your team is completely united, but if you’ve got elements of your own party that are undermining you, it does make it even more difficult.

“To that extent, I feel for Mr Speirs.”

Malinauskas Government minister Katrine Hildyard said today she wished David Speirs all the best and “what happens now is a matter for the Liberal Party”.

“But it’s pretty clear they are tearing themselves apart again,” she told FIVEaa.

“It feels like we’ve seen this movie before.”