1950 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 25 March 1950 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Ross McLarty, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Frank Wise.

1950 Western Australian state election

25 March 1950 (1950-03-25)

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Ross McLarty Frank Wise
Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor
Leader since 14 December 1946 31 July 1945
Leader's seat Murray-Wellington Gascoyne
Last election 25 seats 23 seats
Seats won 24 seats 23 seats
Seat change 1 0
Percentage 49.39% 41.85%

Premier before election

Ross McLarty
Liberal/Country coalition

Resulting Premier

Ross McLarty
Liberal/Country coalition

The election took place after a major redistribution.

Key dates

Date Event
8 February 1950 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1]
17 February 1950 Close of nominations in the North West area.
3 March 1950 Close of nominations in all other areas.
25 March 1950 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
6 April 1950 The McLarty–Watts Ministry was reconstituted.[2]
14 April 1950 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Results

Western Australian state election, 25 March 1950
Legislative Assembly
<< 19471953 >>

Enrolled voters 247,589[1]
Votes cast 229,298 Turnout 92.61% +6.70%
Informal votes 4,534 Informal 1.98% –0.07%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 94,055 41.85% 23 ± 0
  Liberal and Country 90,089 40.08% 15 + 2
  Country 20,922 9.31% 9 – 3
  Ind. Lib. 5,059 2.25% 2 + 1
  Communist 815 0.36% 0 ± 0
  Independent 13,824 6.15% 1 ± 0
Total 224,764     50  
1 306,099 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 12 seats (24% of the total) were uncontested—6 Labor seats (9 less than 1947) representing 26,694 enrolled voters, 2 Liberal seats (the same as 1947) representing 13,278 enrolled voters, and 4 Country seats (two more than 1947) representing 18,538 enrolled voters. This change in distribution means that comparisons in vote percentages between 1947 and 1950 are largely meaningless; they have hence been omitted from the table.

See also

References

  1. "The Electoral Act, 1907–1949. Legislative Assembly General Elections, 1950". Western Australia Government Gazette. 8 February 1950. p. 1950:243.
  2. "Premier's Department". Western Australia Government Gazette. 6 April 1950. p. 1950:845.
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