1956 Western Australian state election

Last updated

1956 Western Australian state election
Flag of Western Australia.svg
  1953 7 April 1956 1959  

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 election26 seats24 seats
Seats won29 seats19 seats
Seat changeIncrease2.svg3Decrease2.svg5
Percentage49.70%38.37%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.07Decrease2.svg4.49

Premier before election

Albert Hawke
Labor

Elected Premier

Albert Hawke
Labor

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Albert Hawke, won a second term in office against the Liberal-Country coalition, led by Sir Ross McLarty.

Contents

Key dates

DateEvent
21 February 1956Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [1]
29 February 1956Close of nominations.
7 April 1956Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
20 April 1956The Hawke Ministry was reconstituted.
23 April 1956The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Results

Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956
Legislative Assembly
<< 19531959 >>

Enrolled voters262,384 [1]
Votes cast241,863 Turnout 92.18–1.30
Informal votes6,851Informal2.83+0.22
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 116,79349.70–0.0729+ 3
  Liberal and Country 98,33533.13–4.8211– 4
  Country 12,3195.24+0.338– 1
 Ind. Lib.15,8226.73+4.892+ 2
  Communist 1,1670.50–0.220± 0
  Independent 11,0454.70–0.100± 0
Total241,863  50 
1 342,018 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 16 seats (32% of the total) were uncontested—5 Labor seats (seven less than 1953) representing 24,951 enrolled voters, 5 Liberal seats (two more than 1953) representing 24,834 enrolled voters, and 6 Country seats (one less than 1953) representing 29,839 enrolled voters.

See also

References

  1. "The Electoral Act, 1907–1953. Legislative Assembly General Election, 1956". Western Australia Government Gazette. 24 February 1956. p. 1956:611.