1899 South Australian colonial election

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1899 South Australian colonial election
Flag of South Australia (1876-1904).svg
  1896 29 April 1899 (1899-04-29) 1902  

All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
28 seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  John Downer (Australian politician).jpg Lee Batchelor (with beard).jpg John Greeley Jenkins.jpg
Leader John Downer Lee Batchelor John Jenkins
Party Conservative United Labor Liberal
Leader since189718971893
Leader's seat Barossa West Adelaide West Adelaide
Seats won281114
Percentage33.7025.4321.97
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.14%Increase2.svg 1.14%Increase2.svg 1.47%

Premier before election

Charles Kingston
Liberal

Elected Premier

Charles Kingston
Liberal

The 1899 South Australian colonial election was held on 29 April 1899 to elect all 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly. In the seat of Albert, the incumbent members were elected unopposed on 12 April, and the election in the seat of Northern Territory was held on 6 May. [1] All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent liberal government led by Premier of South Australia Charles Kingston in an informal coalition United Labor Party (ULP) led by Lee Batchelor defeated the conservative opposition led by Leader of the Opposition John Downer. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. Although the conservatives won more seats, the liberal government retained power until later that year, when new conservative leader Vaiben Louis Solomon forced the government to resign, but only held office for one week. The liberals held government until the next election through leaders Frederick Holder and John Jenkins.

Contents

Background

The 1899 election was a contest between three increasingly dominating groups – the ULP, the conservative National Defence League (NDL) which renamed to the Australasian National League (ANL), and the Kingston liberals. It was also dominated by one issue – the restrictive franchise for the Legislative Council. The Kingston government, which had secured a majority with the strong support of the ULP, had attempted to broaden the franchise in 1898, but the ANL and conservative majority of the council had rejected the Bill. Kingston took the Assembly into the 1899 election with this issue dominant. The seat contest was particularly intense between the conservatives and the Kingston liberals. There was no "Liberal" or "Kingston" party, but there was a relatively cohesive Kingston group among both independent members and candidates. The Liberal and Democratic Union would not be formed until the 1906 election.

Results

House of Assembly (FPTP) (Non-CV) [2]
PartyVotes %SwingSeatsChange
  Conservative 54,01033.70+2.5628
  United Labor 40,75625.43+1.1411
 Liberal21.9724.26+1.4714
  Independent 5,3803.36−2.381
 Other24,89815.54+0.840
 Formal votes160,258
 Informal votes1,218
 Total161,47654
 Registered voters / turnout152,39362.86

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References

  1. "Statistical Record of the Legislature, 1836-2009" (PDF). Parliament of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  2. "Election of 29 April 1899". The University of Western Australia.