Editing Australian Democrats (section)

===1993–1997: Cheryl Kernot===

The party's parliamentary influence was weakened in 1996 after the [[Howard government]] was elected, and a Labor senator, [[Mal Colston]], resigned from the Labor Party. Since the Democrats now shared the parliamentary balance of power with two Independent senators, the Coalition government was able on occasion to pass legislation by negotiating with Colston and [[Brian Harradine]].

In October 1997, party leader [[Cheryl Kernot]] resigned, announcing that she would be joining the [[Australian Labor Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://australianpolitics.com/parties/democrats/97-10-15kernot-resigns.shtml|title=Cheryl Kernot's Resignation Speech|publisher=AustralianPolitics.com|date=15 October 1997|access-date=23 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526164818/https://www.australianpolitics.com/parties/democrats/97-10-15kernot-resigns.shtml|archive-date=26 May 2011}}</ref> (Five years later it was revealed that she had been in a sexual relationship with Labor deputy leader [[Gareth Evans (politician)|Gareth Evans]]).<ref>{{cite news|author=Seccombe, Mike|author2=Fray, Peter|title=Cheryl and Gareth – the consuming passion|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=2002-07-04|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/03/1025667007922.html|access-date=2010-07-31}}</ref> Kernot resigned from the Senate and was replaced by [[Andrew Bartlett]], while deputy [[Meg Lees]] became the new party leader.