New South Wales state election, 1917
New South Wales state election, 1917
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24 March 1917 (1917-03-24) |
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The 1917 New South Wales state election was held on 24 March 1917. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 24th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single-member constituencies with a second ballot if a majority was not achieved on the first. The 23rd parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 21 February 1917 by the Governor, Sir Gerald Strickland, on the advice of the Premier William Holman.
Since the previous election, Premier Holman had left the Australian Labor Party with his supporters and entered into a coalition with the opposition Liberal Party, as part of the 1916 conscription dispute that split the Labor Party nationally. In early 1917 Holman's supporters merged with the Liberals to form the New South Wales branch of the Nationalist Party of Australia.
The Nationalists won a sweeping victory, scoring a 17-point swing which was magnified by the large number of former Labor MPs who followed Holman out of the party. It thus presaged the federal Nationalists' equally comprehensive victory in the federal election two months later.
Key dates
Date |
Event |
21 February 1917 |
The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
3 March 1917 |
Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
24 March 1917 |
Polling day. |
17 April 1917 |
Opening of 24th Parliament. |
Results
New South Wales state election, 24 March 1917 Legislative Assembly
<< 1913 — 1920 >> |
Enrolled voters |
1,109,830 |
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Votes cast |
616,146 |
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Turnout |
61.43 |
-6.81 |
Informal votes |
6,332 |
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Informal |
1.02 |
–1.28 |
Summary of votes by party |
Party |
Primary votes |
% |
Swing |
Seats |
Change |
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Nationalist |
292,306 |
47.44 |
+1.17 |
52 |
+13 |
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Labor |
262,655 |
42.63 |
−4.00 |
33 |
−16 |
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Independent |
25,528 |
4.14 |
+1.86 |
3 |
+2 |
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Independent Labor |
20,085 |
3.26 |
+1.88 |
1 |
0 |
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Ind. Nationalist |
15,201 |
2.47 |
+0.03 |
1 |
+1 |
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Ind. Socialist Labor |
371 |
0.06 |
–0.19 |
0 |
0 |
Total |
616,146 |
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90 |
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References
See also