1892 Victorian colonial election

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1892 Victorian colonial election
Flag of Victoria (1877-1901).svg
  1889 20 April 1892 1894  

All 95 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
48 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  16Williamshiels.jpg 17Jamespatterson.jpg Portrait of the Honorable William Arthur Trenwith (cropped).jpg
Leader William Shiels James Patterson William Trenwith
Party Liberal Conservative Labour
Leader's seat Normanby Castlemaine Richmond
Seats won562811
Percentage52.9127.1119.72
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.14%

Premier before election

William Shiels
Liberal

Elected Premier

William Shiels
Liberal

The 1892 Victorian colonial election was held on 20 April 1892 to elect the 15th Parliament of Victoria. All 95 seats in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though 13 were uncontested. [1] [2]

Contents

This was the first election contested by the Labour Party, which was led by William Trenwith. [3]

Background

In February 1892, Premier James Munro, who was deeply in debt, asked his Cabinet to appoint him Victorian Agent-General in London. He then resigned as Premier and immediately took ship from Port Melbourne. [4]

The Liberals turned to William Shiels as a "clean" new leader, and he became the new Premier on 16 February 1892. [5]

Results

13 seats were uncontested at this election, and therefore retained by the incumbent member:

Legislative Assembly (FPTP) [3]
PartyVotes%SwingSeatsChange
  Liberal 102,01052.9156
  Conservative 52,26027.1128
  Labour 37,77719.72+19.7211Increase2.svg 11
  Independent 2800.150Steady2.svg
  Independent Labour 2050.110Steady2.svg
 Formal votes192,792

Aftermath

The Shiels government was defeated on a vote of confidence on 18 January 1893, and was succeeded by Conservative James Patterson. Patterson himself was defeated on a vote of confidence on 28 August 1894, and sought a dissolution of the house. [3] The Liberals returned to government in 1894, led by George Turner. [3]

References

  1. "THE GENERAL ELECTION IN VICTORIA". Trove. Western Mail.
  2. "THE GENERAL ELECTION IN VICTORIA". Trove. The West Australian.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "THE FIFTEENTH PARLIAMENT ELECTED 20 APRIL 1892". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive.
  4. Mitchell, Ann M., "Munro, James (1832–1908)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2020-01-11
  5. Serle, Geoffrey. "Shiels, William (1848–1904)". Australian Dictionary of Biography . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN   978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN   1833-7538. OCLC   70677943 . Retrieved 16 November 2012.