Tasmanian state election, 1916

23 March 1916

All 30 seats to the House of Assembly

	First party	Second party

Leader	Walter Lee	John Earle
Party	Commonwealth Liberal	Labor
Leader since	September 1915	1906
Leader's seat	Wilmot	Franklin
Last election	16 seats	14 seats
Seats won	15 seats	14 seats
Seat change	1	0
Percentage	48.23%	48.47%
Swing	4.35	2.47

Premier before election

John Earle
Labor

Resulting Premier

Walter Lee
Commonwealth Liberal

A general election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 23 March 1916 (a Thursday, as the convention of holding elections on a Saturday did not become common until the 1920s).

Background

Although the Liberals had won the 1913 election, events since then had seen them lose government, and by 1916 the incumbent Premier of Tasmania was Labor's John Earle. Earle's government had been appointed on the expectation that he would quickly call for a dissolution of parliament, however he refused to do so, and successfully appealed to the Colonial Office. He remained Premier until the writ for the next election was issued.

The Liberal Party was headed by Walter Lee.

Results

Tasmanian state election, 23 March 1916 House of Assembly << 1913 — 1919 >>
Enrolled voters		107,321
Votes cast		78,984		Turnout	73.60%	+6.35%
Informal votes		4,470		Informal	5.66%	+2.79%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal	35,939	48.23%	–4.35%	15	+ 1
	Labor	36,118	48.47%	+2.47%	14	– 1
	Independent	2,457	3.30%	+1.88%	1	± 0
Total		74,514			30

Distribution of Seats

Electorate	Seats won
Bass
Darwin
Denison
Franklin
Wilmot

	Labor
	Liberal
	Independent

Aftermath

The Labor Party made no gains at the 1916 election, and with one seat in Darwin going to Joshua Whitsitt who ran as an independent, the Liberals had no clear majority, although Walter Lee became Premier as leader of the party with the most seats.

References

External links

Assembly Election Results, 1916, Parliament of Tasmania.
Report on General Election, 1916, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, September 1916.

Elections and referendums in Tasmania

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Referendums	1898 1899 1916 1968 1981