1953 Western Australian state election

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1953 Western Australian state election
Flag of Western Australia (1870-1953).svg
  1950 14 February 1953 1956  

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Albert Hawke 1965.jpg Ross McLarty.jpg
Leader Albert Hawke Ross McLarty
Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition
Leader since3 July 195114 December 1946
Leader's seat Northam Murray-Wellington
Last election23 seats24 seats
Seats won26 seats24 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg3Steady2.svg0
Percentage49.76%42.86%
SwingIncrease2.svg7.92Decrease2.svg6.53

Premier before election

Ross McLarty
Liberal/Country coalition

Elected Premier

Albert Hawke
Labor

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 February 1953 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The two-term Liberal-Country Party coalition government, led by Premier Sir Ross McLarty, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Albert Hawke.

Contents

The election was notable in that 22 of the 50 seats were not contested at the election. Only two other elections—those held in 1890 and 1894—had a greater percentage or number of uncontested seats.

Key dates

DateEvent
7 January 1953The Legislative Council was prorogued and the Legislative Assembly was dissolved. [1]
23 January 1953Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [2]
30 January 1953Close of nominations.
14 February 1953Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
23 February 1953The McLarty–Watts Ministry resigned and the Hawke Ministry was sworn in.
27 February 1953The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
6 August 1953Parliament was summoned for business. [3]

Results

Western Australian state election, 14 February 1953
Legislative Assembly
<< 19501956 >>

Enrolled voters205,644 [1]
Votes cast192,225 Turnout 93.47%+0.86%
Informal votes5,028Informal2.62%+0.64%
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 93,15749.76%+7.92%26+ 3
  Liberal and Country 71,04237.95%–2.13%15± 0
  Country 9,1964.91%–4.40%9± 0
 Ind. Lib.3,4581.85%–0.40%0– 2
  Communist 1,3500.72%+0.36%0± 0
  Independent 8,9944.80%–1.35%0– 1
Total192,225  50 
1 319,941 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 22 seats (44% of the total) were uncontested—12 Labor seats (six more than 1950) representing 65,993 enrolled voters, 3 Liberal seats (one more than 1950) representing 14,297 enrolled voters, and 7 Country seats (three more than 1950) representing 34,007 enrolled voters.

See also

References

  1. "Prorogation of the Legislative Council and Dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. Proclamation". Western Australia Government Gazette. 9 January 1953. p. 1953:41.
  2. "The Electoral Act, 1907–1952. Legislative Assembly General Election, 1953". Western Australia Government Gazette. 23 January 1953. p. 1953:157.
  3. "Parliament Summoned to Meet for Business - Proclamation". Western Australia Government Gazette. 13 May 1953. p. 1953:983.