Western Australian state election, 1956

Western Australian state election, 1956

7 April 1956

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly   First party Second party   Leader Albert Hawke Ross McLarty Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition Leader since 3 July 1951 14 December 1946 Leader's seat Northam Murray-Wellington Last election 26 seats 24 seats Seats won 29 seats 19 seats Seat change 3 5 Percentage 49.70% 38.37% Swing 0.07 4.49

Premier before election Albert Hawke Labor Elected Premier Albert Hawke Labor

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 Bert Hawke, won a second term in office against the Liberal-Country coalition, led by Sir Ross McLarty.

Key dates

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

Results

Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956 Legislative Assembly << 1953 — 1959 >>
Enrolled voters		262,384^[1]
Votes cast		241,863		Turnout	92.18	–1.30
Informal votes		6,851		Informal	2.83	+0.22
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	116,793	49.70	–0.07	29	+ 3
	Liberal and Country	98,335	33.13	–4.82	11	– 4
	Country	12,319	5.24	+0.33	8	– 1
	Ind. Lib.	15,822	6.73	+4.89	2	+ 2
	Communist	1,167	0.50	–0.22	0	± 0
	Independent	11,045	4.70	–0.10	0	± 0
Total		241,863			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

• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1953–1956
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1956–1959

References

1. "The Electoral Act, 1907–1953. Legislative Assembly General Election, 1956.". Western Australia Government Gazette. 24 February 1956. p. 1956:611.