Rann remained Leader of the Opposition until the 2002 election.
The Labor opposition took two seats from the Liberals.
 This left Labor one short of majority government while the Liberals were four seats short.
Despite this, it initially appeared Kerin would remain in office with the support of four conservative-leaning independents.
 However, one of those independents, former Liberal Peter Lewis, agreed to support Labor in return for a constitutional convention and being named Speaker.
On paper, this made Rann premier-elect, with a majority of one vote.
 In response, Kerin announced that in accordance with precedent set by Don Dunstan three decades earlier, he would stay in office until Labor demonstrated it had support on the floor of the House of Assembly.
 He argued that since the Liberals had won a bare majority of the two-party vote, he still had a mandate to govern.
 Three weeks of deadlock ended when the new legislature met for the first time.
 With Lewis presiding, Kerin proposed a motion of confidence in his government.
 The motion failed, and Kerin's government immediately resigned.
Rann then advised Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson that he could form a government, and was duly sworn in the next day.
Rann later secured the support of conservative independent Rory McEwen and the Nationals' Karlene Maywald by adding them to his cabinet.
He also agreed to back Liberal-turned-independent Bob Such as Speaker after Lewis retired.

In addition to Premier, Rann also served as the Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change.
Rann was appointed chairman of a new Australian Federation Council in July 2006, a council which was created to improve state-federal ties.
Rann also ran for national presidency in the National Executive in August 2006, and made senior-vice president with 27 percent of the vote.
As such, he also served a rotation of the Presidency of the ALP National Executive in 2008.
Rann remained Leader of the Opposition until the 2002 election. The Labor opposition took two seats from the Liberals.  This left Labor one short of majority government while the Liberals were four seats short. Despite this, it initially appeared Kerin would remain in office with the support of four conservative-leaning independents.  However, one of those independents, former Liberal Peter Lewis, agreed to support Labor in return for a constitutional convention and being named Speaker. On paper, this made Rann premier-elect, with a majority of one vote.  In response, Kerin announced that in accordance with precedent set by Don Dunstan three decades earlier, he would stay in office until Labor demonstrated it had support on the floor of the House of Assembly.  He argued that since the Liberals had won a bare majority of the two-party vote, he still had a mandate to govern.  Three weeks of deadlock ended when the new legislature met for the first time.  With Lewis presiding, Kerin proposed a motion of confidence in his government.  The motion failed, and Kerin's government immediately resigned. Rann then advised Governor Marjorie Jackson-Nelson that he could form a government, and was duly sworn in the next day. Rann later secured the support of conservative independent Rory McEwen and the Nationals' Karlene Maywald by adding them to his cabinet. He also agreed to back Liberal-turned-independent Bob Such as Speaker after Lewis retired.
In addition to Premier, Rann also served as the Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change. Rann was appointed chairman of a new Australian Federation Council in July 2006, a council which was created to improve state-federal ties. Rann also ran for national presidency in the National Executive in August 2006, and made senior-vice president with 27 percent of the vote. As such, he also served a rotation of the Presidency of the ALP National Executive in 2008.
Mike Rann