Neutral Bay state by-election, 1945

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Neutral Bay on Saturday, 15 December 1945.^[1]

It was triggered by the death of the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition, The Hon. Reginald Weaver, who died a week after suffering a mild heart attack in the Legislative Assembly chamber.^[1]

The seat was subsequently won by barrister Ivan Black of the Liberal Party of Australia. Neutral Bay being a safe Liberal seat, the Labor Party chose not to field a candidate.^[1]

Background

The seat of Vaucluse, a safe Liberal seat, was held since 1927 by Reginald Weaver, who served as a Minister of the Crown in the Bavin and Stevens Governments. In 1937, Weaver was elected as the Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, serving until the United Australia Party under Alexander Mair lost the election.

The UAP disintegrated in 1943. A large number of former UAP members then formed the Democratic Party in New South Wales, led by Mair, who became Opposition Leader, while others moved into the Commonwealth Party and the Liberal Democratic Party. The Democratic Party then merged with the Commonwealth Party in January 1944.^[2] With the conservative vote split in half, Mair had little chance, and resigned as Democratic Party Leader on 10 February 1944, to be replaced by Weaver, who then became Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition.^[3]

Weaver's efforts to merge the Democratic Party with the Liberal Democratic Party were deadlocked over questions of party organisation and by acrimony between himself and the Party leader, Ernest K White. However, in December 1944 both parties agreed to enter the new Liberal Party of Australia formed by Robert Menzies and Weaver was elected as the first Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party on 20 April 1945.^[4] His term as Liberal Leader was to prove short-lived, however. After suffering a mild heart attack in the Legislative Assembly chamber on the evening of 7 November 1945, he drove himself home and died a week later on 12 November 1945 at Hornsby Hospital.^[4]

Only two candidates nominated for the by-election. They were: Ivan Black, a barrister and war veteran, for the Liberal Party and Kenneth McLeod Bolton, a merchant, standing as an Independent. A. E. Newland, the candidate of the small Services and Consumers Party of Australia, who had previously expressed interest in contesting, did not nominate because his name was not on the state electoral roll.^[5]

Results

The Liberal Party retained the seat, with a minimal change in the margin. The Liberal candidate, Ivan Black, emerged with 56% of the vote against Independent Kenneth Bolton.

Neutral Bay by-election, 1945^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Ivan Black	10,839	56.36
	Independent	Kenneth Bolton	8,393	43.64
Total formal votes			19,232	74.30
Informal votes			657	3.30
Turnout			19,889	77.60
	Liberal hold		Swing

References

1. Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Neutral Bay - 1945 (by)". New South Wales Elections Database. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
2. "New Party and Mr Menzies". Sydney Morning Herald 22 January 1944 p1. Australian National Library. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
3. "Mr Mair resigns". Sydney Morning Herald 10 February 1944 p4. Australian National Library. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
4. Bourke, Helen. "Weaver, Reginald Walter Darcy (1876 - 1945)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
5. "NEUTRAL BAY ELECTION". Sydney Morning Herald 5 December 1945 p4. Australian National Library. Retrieved 2011-02-02.