1961 Victorian state election

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1961 Victorian state election
Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg
  1958 15 July 1961 1964  

All 66 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
and 17 (of the 34) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Henry Bolte.jpg Clive Stoneham.jpg Herbert Hyland.jpg
Leader Henry Bolte Clive Stoneham Herbert Hyland
Party Liberal and Country Labor Country
Leader since3 June 19537 October 195820 April 1955
Leader's seat Hampden Midlands Gippsland South
Last election39 seats18 seats9 seats
Seats won39 seats17 seats9 seats
Seat changeSteady2.svg0Decrease2.svg1Steady2.svg0
Percentage36.44%38.55%7.14%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.74Increase2.svg0.86Decrease2.svg2.16

Premier before election

Henry Bolte
Liberal and Country

Premier after election

Henry Bolte
Liberal and Country

Elections were held in the Australian state of Victoria on 15 July 1961 to elect the 66 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 17 members of the 34-member Legislative Council. MLAs were elected for three year terms and MLCs were elected for six year terms. All were elected in single-member districts or provinces using preferential voting.

Contents

The Liberal and Country Party (LCP) government of Premier Henry Bolte won a third term in office. It was the first Victorian election at which all seats in both houses were contested by at least two candidates, and the first at which both houses were contested on the same day.

Key dates

DateEvent
24 May 1961The Parliament was prorogued. [1]
1 June 1961Writs were issued by the Administrator to proceed with an election. [2]
23 June 1961Close of nominations.
15 July 1961Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
28 July 1961The Bolte Ministry was reconstituted, with two new ministers sworn in. [3]
1 August 1961The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
1 August 1961Parliament resumed for business. [4]

Results

Legislative Assembly

The election produced almost no change in the electoral balance.

Victorian state election, 15 July 1961 [5]
Legislative Assembly
<< 19581964 >>

Enrolled voters1,554,856
Votes cast1,554,856 Turnout 94.41+0.18
Informal votes35,937Informal2.45+0.67
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeatsChange
  Labor 552,01538.55+0.8617– 1
  Liberal and Country 521,77736.44–0.7439± 0
  Democratic Labor 242,75316.95+2.530± 0
  Country 102,1847.14–2.169± 0
 Other3,7220.26+0.160± 0
  Independent 9,4740.66–0.641+ 1
Total1,431,925  66 
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 829,97757.9+0.1
  Labor 602,49342.1–0.1

Legislative Council

Victorian state election, 15 July 1961 [6]
Legislative Council
<< 19581964 >>

Enrolled voters1,554,856
Votes cast1,467,482 Turnout 94.3+8.0
Informal votes46,697Informal3.2+1.5
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes %SwingSeats
won
Seats
held
  Labor 552,07538.9–0.349
  Liberal and Country 538,01337.9+2.1917
  Democratic Labor 237,46416.7+1.800
  Country 88,4166.2+0.748
  Independent 4,8170.3+0.300
Total1,420,785  1734

Seats changing hands

SeatPre-1961SwingPost-1961
PartyMemberMarginMarginMemberParty
Moorabbin  Liberal and Country Bob Suggett 9.4N/A8.7 Bob Suggett Independent Liberal 
Oakleigh  Labor Val Doube 1.8-4.22.5 Alan Scanlan Liberal and Country 

See also

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References

  1. "Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly". Victorian Government Gazette. 24 May 1961. p. 1961:1747.
  2. "General Election". Victorian Government Gazette. 24 May 1961. p. 1961:1748.
  3. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 28 July 1961. p. 1961:2601.
  4. "Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria". Victorian Government Gazette. 27 July 1961. p. 1961:2585.
  5. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Victoria, Assembly election, 15 July 1961" . Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  6. Carr, Adam. "Victoria Legislative Council Election 1961". Psephos Election Archive. Retrieved 29 September 2015.