Nick Xenophon Politician

Nicholas "Nick" Xenophon (born Xenophou; 29 January 1959) is an independent Senator for South Australia. Xenophon was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Greek and Cypriot migrants. He attended Prince Alfred College and studied law at the University of Adelaide, attaining his Bachelor of Laws in 1981. Xenophon established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co. in 1984. Between 1994 and 1997 he served as president of the South Australian branch of the Australian Plaintiff Lawyers' Association.No Pokies, the name of his independent ticket in the South Australian Legislative Council, garnered 2.9 percent of the statewide vote at the 1997 state election getting to the 8.3 percent quota on preferences, and won 20.5 percent of the vote at the 2006 election (or 2.5 quotas), which was unexpected by political commentators. He was elected to the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, receiving 14.8 percent statewide. This was still 0.5 percent over a full Senate quota, gaining election without the need for preferences. However, at the 2013 federal election Xenophon received a record vote of 24.9 percent. Xenophon shared the balance of power with the Greens and Family First during the 2008–11 Senate parliamentary session, with the Greens holding the sole balance of power since July 2011. Xenophon will share the balance of power with a record 18-member crossbench from July 2014. Whilst his original 1997 platform centred on anti-pokies, he has since become an advocate in many other areas. Xenophon has been reported in the media as "left-of-centre", while Hansard reveals that Xenophon and the Greens have found common ground on a number of issues.