Current leader Martin Hamilton-Smith has spent a quiet day with his family, contemplating his political future in the wake of a disastrous leadership vote on Saturday, which he barely won 11-10.

One party member abstained from voting altogether.

Mr Hamilton-Smith called Saturday's leadership ballot in a bid to consolidate a party weakened by damaging infighting and persistent leadership speculation, with the next election less than a year away in March.

Following Saturday's narrow win, Mr Hamilton-Smith immediately called for a second vote on Wednesday in the hope that it would provide a clearer outcome.

But on Sunday, his deputy of one day, Isobel Redmond, announced that she would stand at Wednesday's ballot for the top job against the woman she replaced as deputy, Vickie Chapman.

"In my view we need a circuit breaker, and I think that I'm that circuit breaker," Ms Redmond told reporters in Adelaide.

"Right now our party is like a runaway train, we have slammed into the buffer at the end of the line.

"That buffer is made of two blocks as hard as concrete with almost equal support (referring to Mr Hamilton-Smith and Ms Chapman).

"I'm a clean-skin candidate, independent of historical baggage."

The growing dissent over Mr Hamilton-Smith's performance as leader began several weeks ago when he presented to parliament documents accusing Mike Rann's Labor government of accepting illegal donations from a group with ties to the Church of Scientology.

The documents turned out to be forgeries and Mr Hamilton-Smith was forced to make a public apology.

Defamation action has since been lodged against him.

Falling popularity in the polls also prompted the resignation of the party's environment spokesman, Mitch Williams, from the frontbench last week.

A spokesman for Mr Hamilton-Smith, a former SAS soldier, said on Sunday everyone was having "a cup of tea and a good long think" after an intense week.

Asked if Mr Hamilton-Smith would stand for the leadership position again in Wednesday's vote, the spokesman said he would "sit down in the office tomorrow and work through some options".

SA Premier Mike Rann says the Liberals are in a shambles.

"No one can understand what on earth the Liberals are on about, basically the Liberals have forgotten what they were elected to do," Mr Rann said.