By the 1950s, many Labor figures had despaired of ever winning power. This changed when Frank Walsh became state Labor leader in 1961 upon O'Halloran's death. Knowing a statewide campaign was not realistic due to the significant rural overweighting, Walsh opted instead to target the LCL's marginal seats in the 1962 election. By then, the LCL's grip on power had become increasingly tenuous. Due to being almost entirely dependent on rural support, the LCL usually won just enough seats to govern alone. It never held more than 23 seats during Playford's tenure. By the time the writs were dropped for the election, the LCL only had a bare majority of 20 seats, and had lost seats at every election since 1950.