1920 Queensland state election
Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 9 October 1920 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its third term in office since the 1915 election. It was Premier Ted Theodore's first election.
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All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 79.93 (![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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During the previous term, the Queensland Country Party, had re-emerged from the National bloc, taking half of the Country Party's parliamentary seats with it. A Labor member, Alfred James, switched to the party, and the Maranoa by-election in 1919 saw them gain a seat at the expense of Labor. An additional party, the Northern Country Party, also formed during this time to represent the interests of North Queensland farmers and canegrowers. In order to avoid three-cornered contests with Labor, the three parties agreed upon a division of seats between themselves.
Key dates
Date | Event |
---|---|
10 September 1920 | The Parliament was dissolved.[1] |
10 September 1920 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2] |
18 September 1920 | Close of nominations. |
9 October 1920 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
12 November 1920 | The Theodore Ministry was reconstituted. |
15 November 1920 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
Results
Queensland state election, 9 October 1920[3] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 445,681[1] | |||||
Votes cast | 356,226 | Turnout | 79.93 | –0.34 | ||
Informal votes | 3,600 | Informal | 1.01 | –0.17 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Labor | 168,455 | 47.77 | –5.91 | 38 | – 8 | |
National | 90,730 | 25.73 | –18.89 | 13 | – 9 | |
Country | 60,170 | 17.06 | +17.06 | 18 | + 18 | |
Northern Country | 20,246 | 5.74 | +5.74 | 3 | + 3 | |
Independent Country | 6,055 | 1.72 | +1.72 | 0 | ± 0 | |
National Labor | 4,216 | 1.20 | +1.20 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Independent | 2,794 | 0.79 | –0.90 | 0 | – 2 | |
Total | 352,666 | 72 | ||||
- 1 462,218 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 2 Country Party seats (Cooroora and Cunningham), 1 United Party seat (Albert) and 1 Labor seat (Mitchell) were unopposed.
Seats changing party representation
This table lists changes in party representation at the 1920 election.
Party changes before election
The following seats changed party representation before the election due to the split of the National party.
Seat | Incumbent member | Former Party | New Party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albert | John Appel | National Party | Country Party | |||
Aubigny | Arthur Moore | National Party | Country Party | |||
Burnett | Bernard Corser | National Party | Country Party | |||
Cooroora | Harry Walker | National Party | Country Party | |||
Dalby | William Vowles | National Party | Country Party | |||
Drayton | William Bebbington | National Party | Country Party | |||
Fassifern | Ernest Bell | National Party | Country Party | |||
Logan | Alfred James | Labor Party | Country Party | |||
Mirani | Edward Swayne | National Party | Northern Country | |||
Murilla | Godfrey Morgan | National Party | Country Party | |||
Murrumba | Richard Warren | National Party | Country Party | |||
Nanango | Robert Hodge | National Party | Country Party | |||
Seats changing hands at election
Seat | Incumbent member | Party | New member | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burrum | Albert Whitford | Labor | William Brand | Country | ||
Carnarvon | Donald Gunn | National | Edward Costello | Country | ||
Cunningham | Francis Grayson | Independent | William Deacon | Country | ||
Enoggera | William Lloyd | Labor | Jim Kerr | National | ||
Kennedy | James O'Sullivan | Labor | John Jones | Northern Country | ||
Logan | Alfred James | Country | Reginald King | National | ||
Maranoa | Thomas Spencer | Country | Charles Conroy | Labor | ||
Merthyr | Peter McLachlan | Labor | Peter MacGregor | National | ||
Musgrave | Thomas Armfield | Labor | Henry Cattermull | Country | ||
Nanango | Robert Hodge | Country | Jim Edwards | Independent Country | ||
Pittsworth | Percy Bayley | Independent | Cecil Roberts | Country | ||
Port Curtis | George Carter | Labor | John Fletcher | National | ||
Stanley | Henry Somerset | National | Frederick Nott | Country | ||
Townsville | Daniel Ryan | Labor | William Green | Northern Country | ||
Wide Bay | Andrew Thompson | Labor | Harry Clayton | Country | ||
- Members in italics did not recontest their seats.
- Sitting Country member for Maranoa, Thomas Spencer won this seat from Labor at the 1919 by-election.
See also
References
- "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:923.
- "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:925.
- Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 12 May 1923". Retrieved 5 March 2010. Party data is from Hughes, Colin A.; Graham, B. D. (1976). Voting for the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1890–1964. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 0-7081-0301-4.