Tasmanian general election, 1931

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House of Assembly election, 1931
Party Vote % Seats
Nationalist 56.4 ↑14.2 19 ↑4
Labor 34.9 ↓12.3 10 ↓4
Independent 8.7 ↑0.3 1 0
Nationalist win

A general election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on May 9, 1931.

Contents

[edit] Background

The Nationalist Party had defeated Labor by one seat at the 1928 election, and John McPhee had been Premier of Tasmania since then. Joseph Lyons had retired from state politics after his 1928 defeat and had entered federal politics, and the Labor Party was now lead by Albert Ogilvie.

[edit] 1931 Election Results

Party Number of votes Percentage Seats won Percent Swing
Nationalist Party 61,414 56.4% 19 +14.2%
Australian Labor Party 38,030 34.9% 10 -12.3%
Other 9,450 8.7% 1 +0.3%
Percentage Change
Turn out 108,894 91.7% +12.5%
Informal 3,885 3.6% +0.2%

[edit] Distribution of Seats

Electorate Seats won
Bass            
Darwin            
Denison            
Franklin            
Wilmot            
  Nationalist Party
  Australian Labor Party
  Independent

[edit] Aftermath

The Nationalist Party won the 1931 election in a landslide, with an over 22 per cent margin over Labor, and taking a nineteen seats in the House of Assembly. This was the largest victory over Labor in Tasmania since Hare-Clark elections began in 1909, and was attributed to public endorsement of McPhee's expenditure cuts over Ogilvie's expansionist policies.[1]

The high turnout of voting in the election was due to the implementation of compulsory voting clauses of the Electoral Act for the first time.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ R. P. Davis, McPhee, Sir John Cameron (1878 - 1952), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 355-356.
  2. ^ Report on General Election, 1931, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

[edit] External links