Barnett led the Liberals to a decisive victory in 2013, but was heavily defeated in 2017 and returned to the backbench. As a measure of how safe this seat has been for the Liberals, Barnett suffered a swing of 7.8 percent but still retained it with a comfortable margin of 63.3 percent, making Cottesloe the Liberals' safest metropolitan seat and the second-safest statewide. He retired later in 2018, and businessman David Honey easily retained the seat for the Liberals with a healthy swing in his favour.