1916 Tasmanian state election

The 1916 Tasmanian state election was held on Thursday, 23 March 1916 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

1916 Tasmanian state election

23 March 1916
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Walter Lee John Earle Party Liberal Labor Leader since September 1915 1906 Leader's seat Wilmot Franklin Last election 16 seats 14 seats Seats won 15 seats 14 seats Seat change 1 0 Percentage 48.23% 48.47% Swing 4.35 2.47
Premier before election John Earle Labor Resulting Premier Walter Lee Liberal

Although the Liberals had won the 1913 election, a subsequent by-election had seen both parties holding 15 seats in the House of Assembly and Solomon losing government to Labor's John Earle. Earle's government had been appointed on the expectation that Earle would quickly call for a dissolution of the House of Assembly, which he refused to do, and successfully appealed to the Colonial Office.

At the election, Earle was the incumbent Premier of Tasmania and the Liberal Party was headed by Walter Lee. The Labor Party made no gains at the 1916 election. Joshua Whitsitt won as an Independent. The Liberals had no clear majority, winning 15 seats. Lee became Premier, as leader of the party with the most seats.