1914 Victorian state election

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1914 Victorian state election
Flag of Victoria (1901-1952).svg
  1911 26 November 1914 (1914-11-26) 1917  

49 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
33 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  20Alexanderpeacock.jpg 25Georgeelmslie.jpg
Leader Alexander Peacock George Elmslie
Party Democratic Liberal Labor
Leader sinceJune 1914September 1913
Leader's seat Allandale Albert Park
Last election43 seats20 seats
Seats won43 seats22 seats
Seat changeSteady2.svg 0Increase2.svg 2
Percentage56.89%39.29%
SwingIncrease2.svg 4.86Decrease2.svg 3.48

Premier before election

Alexander Peacock
Democratic Liberal

Elected Premier

Alexander Peacock
Democratic Liberal

The 1914 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday, 26 November 1914 to elect 49 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. [1]

Contents

Background

Politics in the state of Victoria in the previous decade had been a 3-way contest between the Conservative, Liberal and Labor parties. Following the example of the federal party, the Conservative and Liberal factions in Victoria united to form the Liberal Party. This new party dominated politics in the state, forming government with a majority of 43 of 65 seats in the previous election, although a new divide formed between city and rural based MPs.

This divide resulted in a no confidence motion being passed to the government of William Watt, when the rural based Liberal MPs and the opposition Labor MPs defeated the government in December 1913. To much surprise, Governor John Madden appointed the opposition Labor party under George Elmslie to government, although it was impossible to retain its position due to its minority in numbers, and that the law at the time stated that new ministers had to recontest their seats at by-elections.

Watt returned as Premier on 22 December 1913, and remained until he resigned in June 1914 to enter Federal politics. He was replaced by former Premier Alexander Peacock. A month later, World War I broke out. Peacock's administration enthusiastically contributed to the war, and was seeking reelection on this basis.

Results

Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 26 November 1914 [2]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19111917 >>

Enrolled voters810,026
Votes cast319,950 Turnout 39.50–15.90
Informal votes7,294Informal2.27+0.91
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Liberal 167,11253.44+6.8342– 2
  Labor 121,56238.88–4.1821+ 2
  Independent 24,0227.68–2.652± 0
Total312,696  65 

Notes:

See also

References

  1. Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890–1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 ( ISBN   0708102700).
  2. "Victoria Legislative Assembly 24th Parliament Elected 26 November 1914". Psephos. Retrieved 10 January 2020.