1902 Balmain South state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Balmain South on 6 December 1902 because of the resignation of Sydney Law from Labour and the parliament. ^[1] Following the 1901 election, the Progressive Party had formed a government with the support of Labour. In 1902 a man named Moss Friedman had been found guilty by a jury, however the judge disagreed with the guilty verdict. The Attorney General, Bernhard Wise, remitted Friedman's sentence and Joseph Carruthers, the Leader of the Opposition, moved a motion in the Legislative Assembly to censure Wise. Law voted in support of the motion despite a Labour decision to oppose it. ^[2] Law chose to resign and recontest the seat as an Independent Labour candidate. ^[3]

Dates

Date	Event
30 October 1902	Vote on censure motion in Legislative Assembly/ [2]
18 November 1902	Sydney Law resigned. [1]
19 November 1902	Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. [4]
28 November 1902	Nominations
6 December 1902	Polling day
15 December 1902	Return of writ

Result

1902 Balmain South by-election
Wednesday 16 August  ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Sydney Law (re-elected)	1,387	57.9
	Labour	Hugh Byers	1,006	42.1
Total formal votes			2,388	99.3	+0.3
Informal votes			16	0.7	−0.3
Turnout			2,404	58.9  [a]	−10.1
	Member changed to Independent Labour from Labour

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Balmain South
• List of New South Wales state by-elections

Notes

1. based on a roll of 4,082 at the 1901 election. ^[5]

References

1. "Mr Sydney James Law (1856-1939)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 8 May 2019.
2. "Law and disorder". The Worker . 22 November 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 6 August 2020– via Trove.
3. Green, Antony. "1902 Balmain South by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 2 August 2020.
4. "Writ of election: Balmain South". New South Wales Government Gazette . No. 674. 19 November 1902. p. 8413. Retrieved 2 August 2020– via Trove.
5. Green, Antony. "1901 Balmain South". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales . Retrieved 14 March 2020.