Western Australian state election, 1977

Western Australian state election, 1977

1974 ←
19 February 1977 (1977-02-19)
→ 1980

All 55 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
and 17 (of the 32) seats to the Western Australian Legislative Council
  First party Second party
 
Leader Charles Court Colin Jamieson
Party Liberal/NCP coalition Labor
Leader since 5 June 1972 16 April 1976
Leader's seat Nedlands Welshpool
Last election 29 seats 22 seats
Seats won 33 seats 22 seats
Seat change 4 0
Popular vote 318,796 264,031
Percentage 54.70% 45.30%
Swing 4.53 4.53

Premier before election

Charles Court
Liberal/NCP coalition

Elected Premier

Charles Court
Liberal/NCP coalition

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1977 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council. The Liberal-National Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir Charles Court, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Colin Jamieson.

The election produced a decisive victory for the Coalition, attributed by some observers to its strong and organised campaign, the Premier's ability in dealing with the media and good economic times built on resource exports, as contrasted against the Labor Opposition's often unfocussed campaign dwelling on the government's perceived autocratic methods and those sections of the general population which were not benefitting from the good times.[1]

Contents

Results

Legislative Assembly

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
Legislative Assembly
<< 19741980 >>

Enrolled Voters 663,113
Votes Cast 601,975 Turnout 90.78% +0.65%
Informal Votes 19,148 Informal 3.18% –0.90%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Liberal 287,651 49.35% +9.02% 27 + 4
  Labor 257,730 44.22% –3.88% 22 ± 0
  National Country[1] 30,784 5.28% –5.52% 6 ± 0
  Progress 2,640 0.45% +0.45% 0 ± 0
  Australia Party 549 0.09% –0.31% 0 ± 0
  Independent 3,473 0.60% +0.23% 0 ± 0
Total 582,827     55  
Two-Party Preferred
  Liberal/NCP 318,796 54.70% +4.53%
  Labor 264,031 45.30% –4.53%

Notes:

1 The National Country Party contested seven seats in the election. The previous high vote stemmed from its attempted merger with the Democratic Labor Party prior to the 1974 election, known as the "National Alliance", which contested 44 seats including many in the metropolitan area. The Alliance ceased to exist shortly after the 1974 election, and adopted a more traditional strategy in 1977.

Legislative Council

Western Australian state election, 19 February 1977
Legislative Council

Enrolled Voters 663,113
Votes Cast 601,442 Turnout 90.70% +0.76%
Informal Votes 26,160 Informal 4.35% –0.44%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary Votes % Swing Seats
won
Seats
held
  Liberal 289,416 50.31% +4.88% 9 18
  Labor 241,359 41.95% –5.28% 4 10
  National Country 31,974 5.56% –1.78% 3 4
  Independent 12,533 2.18% +2.18% 0 0
Total 575,282     16 32
Two-Party Preferred
  Liberal/NCP 319,952 55.62% +3.72%
  Labor 255,330 44.38% –3.72%

See also

References

  1. ^ Wood, Michael (December 1977). "Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 1977 (Western Australia)". Australian Journal of Politics and History 23 (3): 448–453. ISSN 0004-9522.