1908 Queensland state election

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1908 Queensland state election
Flag of Queensland.svg
  1907 5 February 1908 (1908-02-05) 1909  

All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout78.91 (Increase2.svg 7.30 pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  William Kidston (cropped).jpg Robert Philp portrait (cropped 2).jpg StateLibQld 1 51912 The Honourable David Bowman (cropped).jpg
Leader William Kidston Robert Philp David Bowman
Party Kidstonites Conservative Labour
Leader since19 January 190619 September 190415 April 1907
Leader's seat Rockhampton Townsville Fortitude Valley
Last election24 seats, 31.88%29 seats, 40.58%18 seats, 26.39%
Seats won252222
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 7Increase2.svg 4
Popular vote44,99775,56355,771
Percentage24.04%40.37%29.80%
SwingDecrease2.svg 7.84Decrease2.svg 0.21Increase2.svg 3.41

Premier before election

Robert Philp
Conservative

Resulting Premier

William Kidston
Kidston Party

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 5 February 1908 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election, held less than 9 months after the previous election, was made necessary by a series of events which had seen former Premier William Kidston, who commanded a majority on the floor of the Assembly, resign following an attempt to convince the Governor of Queensland to appoint sympathetic members to the Queensland Legislative Council, which had blocked key legislative measures. Following Kidston's resignation, Opposition leader Robert Philp was sent for and formed a ministry, but the ministry almost immediately lost a vote of no confidence in the Assembly, and as such, a new election had to be called.

Contents

Key dates

DateEvent
12 November 1907Premier William Kidston resigned, and Robert Philp was sent for to form a ministry.
19 November 1907The First Kidston Ministry resigned, and the Second Philp Ministry was sworn in.
31 December 1907The Parliament was dissolved. [1]
3 January 1908Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [2]
15 January 1908Close of nominations.
5 February 1908Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
18 February 1908The Second Philp Ministry resigned and the Second Kidston Ministry was sworn in. [3]
26 February 1908The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
3 March 1908Parliament resumed for business. [4]

Results

The Kidstonites contested only 32 of the 72 seats, compared to 55 at the previous election.

Queensland state election, 5 February 1908 [5]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19071909 >>

Enrolled voters175,823 [1]
Votes cast138,747 Turnout 78.91+7.30
Informal votes1,466Informal1.06–0.61
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Conservative 75,56340.37–0.2122– 7
  Labour 55,77129.80+3.4122+ 4
  Kidstonites 44,99724.04–7.8425+ 1
 Farmers Rep.6,7493.61+3.612+ 2
  Independent 4,0782.18+1.041± 0
Total187,158 [2]   72 
1 205,892 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 12 seats (16.7% of the total) representing 30,069 voters were uncontested—six Labor seats, five Conservatives and one Kidston.
2 In 11 electorates, voters had two votes each, so the total number of votes exceeds the total number of voters.

See also

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References

  1. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 31 December 1907. p. 89:1529.
  2. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 3 January 1908. p. 90:15.
  3. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 18 February 1908. p. 90:455–457.
  4. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette . 20 February 1908. p. 90:467.
  5. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 5 February 1908" . Retrieved 14 February 2009.