Cheryl Kernot was the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats (April 23, 1993 to October 15, 1997) before controversially changing to become a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She narrowly won one election as the ALP candidate for Dickson, but failed in a bid for a second term. After retiring from politics she wrote a book about her experiences, before it was revealed that she had been having an affair whilst leader of the Democrats with ALP frontbencher Gareth Evans, despite both of them being married to other people.