1955 Victorian state election

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1955 Victorian state election
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg
  1952 28 May 1955 (1955-5-28) 1958  

65 (of the 66) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
34 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Henry Bolte.jpg John Cain 1954.jpg
Leader Henry Bolte John Cain
Party Liberal and Country Labor
Leader since3 June 195319 October 1937
Leader's seat Hampden Northcote
Last election11 seats37 seats
Seats won33 seats20 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 22Decrease2.svg 17
Popular vote487,408420,197
Percentage37.78%32.57%
SwingIncrease2.svg 12.93Decrease2.svg 16.50
TPP 57.92%42.08%
TPP swingIncrease2.svg 14.64Decrease2.svg 14.64

 Third partyFourth party
  Herbert Hyland.jpg
(A-C)
Leader Herbert Hyland Bill Barry
Party Country Labor (A-C)
Leader since20 April 1955April 1955
Leader's seat Gippsland South Carlton
Last election12 seatsNew party
Seats won11 seats1 seat
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 1
Popular vote122,999162,660
Percentage9.53%12.61%
SwingIncrease2.svg 1.19Increase2.svg 12.61

Premier before election

John Cain
Labor

Elected Premier

Henry Bolte
Liberal and Country

The 1955 Victorian state election was held in the Australian State of Victoria on Saturday, 28 May 1955 to elect 65 (of the 66) members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

Contents

The incumbent Labor Party Government was defeated by the Liberal and Country Party (LCP) led by Henry Bolte with a swing of 14.6%. [1]

Background

John Cain had led the Labor Party in Victoria since 1937, and had been Premier since defeating John McDonald's Country Party government at the 1952 election, forming the first majority Labor government in Victoria's history.

The leader of the opposition Liberal and Country Party, Trevor Oldham, had died on 2 May 1953 in a plane crash on his way to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Oldham's deputy, Henry Bolte, succeeded him a few days later.

The election was triggered by events related to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955, in which followers of B. A. Santamaria's "Movement"—Catholic, anti-Communist, right-aligned members of the Labor Party—were accused by federal leader H. V. Evatt of contributing to his loss of the 1954 federal election to Robert Menzies. The federal executive set about expelling "disloyal" members who supported the Movement.

In the Victorian parliament, the anti-Communists were known as the Barry–Coleman group after the leaders of the faction: Bill Barry in the Legislative Assembly and Les Coleman in the Legislative Council. In April 1955, Barry and Coleman wrote to Cain requesting a unity conference, but the request was rejected, with Cain telling the group that they could only achieve unity within the ALP, by accepting the authority of the Labor federal conference and executive, and the Victorian central executive. [2]

On the night of 19 April, Bolte moved a motion of no-confidence against Cain's government in the Legislative Assembly. In the early hours of 20 April, following a twelve-hour debate, eleven anti-Communist Labor members crossed the floor to support Bolte's motion. With his government defeated, Cain sought and received a dissolution of parliament later that day. [3] [4]

Key dates

DateEvent
20 April 1955The Cain government was defeated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by a motion of no-confidence. [3]
22 April 1955The Parliament was prorogued, and the Legislative Assembly dissolved. [5]
26 April 1955Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [5]
6 May 1955Close of nominations. [5]
28 May 1955Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
7 June 1955Interim Bolte Ministry was sworn in. [6]
8 June 1955The remainder of the Bolte Ministry was sworn in. [7]
15 June 1955The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
15 June 1955Parliament resumed for business. [8]

Results

Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 28 May 1955 [9] [10]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19521958 >>

Enrolled voters1,402,588
Votes cast1,318,934 Turnout 94.02+0.44
Informal votes28,955Informal2.19+0.38
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Liberal and Country 487,40837.78+12.9333+22
  Labor 420,19732.57−16.5020−17
  Labor (A-C) 162,66012.61+12.611+1
  Country 122,9999.53+1.1911−1
  Independent 45,5703.53−3.381±0
  Victorian Liberal 44,6923.46−6.130−4
  Communist 4,5890.35−0.880±0
  Henry George Justice 1,8640.14+0.140±0
Total1,289,979  66 
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 755,91757.9+14.6
  Labor 549,23342.1–14.6

Notes:

See also

References

  1. "One-party rule from LCP's win". The Argus. 3 June 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  2. "Labor split widens CAIN SNUBS BARRY MEN; POLL 'SURE'". The Argus (FINAL ed.). Melbourne. 16 April 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 10 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 "Victorian Govt. Defeated; Election On May 28". The Central Queensland Herald . Rockhampton, Qld. 21 April 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  4. Ainsley Symons (2012), 'Democratic Labor Party members in the Victorian Parliament of 1955–1958,' in Recorder (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No. 275, November, Pages 4-5.
  5. 1 2 3 "Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly". Victoria Government Gazette . Victorian Government Printer. 22 April 1955. p. 1955:1807.
  6. "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette . Victorian Government Printer. 7 June 1955. p. 1955:2803.
  7. "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette . Victorian Government Printer. 8 June 1955. p. 1955:2845.
  8. "Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria". Victoria Government Gazette . Victorian Government Printer. 27 July 1961. p. 1955:2585.
  9. Election held on 28 May 1955, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).
  10. Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890–1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 ( ISBN   0708102700).