Queensland state election, 1920

Queensland state election, 1920

9 October 1920

All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland   First party Second party   Leader Ted Theodore William Vowles Party Labor Country/Nationalist coalition Leader since 22 October 1919 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

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.

During the previous term, a new party, the Queensland Country Party, had emerged from the Nationalist 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
	Nationalist	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	2	+ 2
	Ind. 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.

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1918–1920
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1920–1923
• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1920
• Theodore Ministry

References

1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:923.
2. Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:925. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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.