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.

1920 Queensland state election
9 October 1920 (1920-10-09)
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout79.93 ( 0.34 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Ted Theodore William Vowles
Party Labor Country/National coalition
Leader since 22 October 1919 (1919-10-22) 28 January 1920
Leader's seat Chillagoe Dalby
Last election 46 seats 25 seats
Seats won 38 seats 33 seats
Seat change 8 8
Percentage 47.77% 48.53%
Swing 5.91 N/A
Premier before election

Ted Theodore
Labor

 Elected Premier

Ted Theodore
Labor

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]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1918–1923 >>

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.

SeatIncumbent memberFormer PartyNew 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
SeatIncumbent memberPartyNew memberParty
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
  1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:923.
  2. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:925.
  3. 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.
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