McGowan served as Premier since 2017, when he won a landslide victory. McGowan, like many other state Premiers during COVID-19, had very high approval ratings in Western Australia. This led him to another landslide win in 2021, where the Liberal Party lost all but two of its seats and the Nationals became the official Opposition. McGowan won his seat of Rockingham with over 87% of the two-party preferred vote. Although he initially had high approval ratings (even being referred to as the "rockstar" Premier), his approval ratings steadily decreased over his refusal to open the state's borders, despite the rest of the nation doing so. This was criticised by many leaders, including the federal Coalition government under Scott Morrison. Furthermore, mining magnate Clive Palmer took the state to court over the state's border closure, which he unsuccessfully attempted to sue McGowan over the state's border closure, claiming it was "unconstitutional". Palmer again attempted to sue McGowan for defamation later on in 2022. The state finally lifted its border closure with New South Wales and Victoria in March 2022. At the 2022 federal election, popularity is credited with delivering the federal Labor Party under Anthony Albanese a victory in Western Australia, which was the state that delivered Labor a majority government.
