1956 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Albert Hawke, won a second term in office against the Liberal-Country coalition, led by Sir Ross McLarty.

1956 Western Australian state election

← 19537 April 19561959 →

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
 
LeaderAlbert HawkeRoss McLarty
PartyLaborLiberal/Country coalition
Leader since3 July 195114 December 1946
Leader's seatNorthamMurray-Wellington
Last election26 seats24 seats
Seats won29 seats19 seats
Seat changeIncrease3Decrease5
Percentage49.70%38.37%
SwingDecrease0.07Decrease4.49

Premier before election

Albert Hawke
Labor

Elected Premier

Albert Hawke
Labor

Key dates

DateEvent
21 February 1956Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1]
29 February 1956Close of nominations.
7 April 1956Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
20 April 1956The Hawke Ministry was reconstituted.
23 April 1956The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Results

Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956
Legislative Assembly
<< 19531959 >>

Enrolled voters262,384[1]
Votes cast241,863Turnout92.18–1.30
Informal votes6,851Informal2.83+0.22
Summary of votes by party
PartyPrimary votes%SwingSeatsChange
 Labor116,79349.70–0.0729+ 3
 Liberal and Country98,33533.13–4.8211– 4
 Country12,3195.24+0.338– 1
 Ind. Lib.15,8226.73+4.892+ 2
 Communist1,1670.50–0.220± 0
 Independent11,0454.70–0.100± 0
Total241,863  50 
1 342,018 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 16 seats (32% of the total) were uncontested—5 Labor seats (seven less than 1953) representing 24,951 enrolled voters, 5 Liberal seats (two more than 1953) representing 24,834 enrolled voters, and 6 Country seats (one less than 1953) representing 29,839 enrolled voters.

See also

References