Tasmanian state election, 1956

13 October 1956

	First party	Second party

Leader	Robert Cosgrove	Tim Jackson
Party	Labor	Liberal
Leader since	25 February 1948	26 June 1956
Leader's seat	Denison	Franklin
Last election	15 seats	15 seats
Seats won	15 seats	15 seats
Seat change	0	0
Percentage	50.27%	43.61%
Swing	2.36	1.74

Premier before election

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

Resulting Premier

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

The Tasmanian state election, 1956 was held on 13 October 1956 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system^[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

Background

The 1955 election had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock between the Labor and Liberal parties, although Robert Cosgrove remained Premier of Tasmania. On 11 September 1956, Cosgrove's minister for housing, Carrol Bramich, resigned from the ALP following an internal row, party switching and giving the Liberal opposition a majority.^[2] Cosgrove obtained a dissolution of parliament from the Governor of Tasmania, and an election was called for 13 October.^[3]

The electorate of Darwin had been renamed in 1955 to Braddon, after former Premier Sir Edward Braddon.

Results

Following the 1956 election, the ALP and Liberals remained in a 15-seat deadlock. Despite Bramich's defection to the Liberals, Labor picked up a seat in Bramich's electorate of Braddon, maintaining the status quo with Cosgrove and the ALP still in power.

Tasmanian state election, 13 October 1956 House of Assembly << 1955 — 1959 >>
Enrolled voters		174,632
Votes cast		166,293		Turnout	95.22	+1.30
Informal votes		6,968		Informal	4.19	+0.40
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	80,096	50.27	–2.36	15	± 0
	Liberal	69,477	43.61	–1.74	15	± 0
	Labor (Anti-Communist)	5,522	3.47	+3.47	0	± 0
	Independent	4,139	2.60	+0.58	0	± 0
	Communist	91	0.06	+0.06	0	± 0
Total		159,325			30

Distribution of Seats

Electorate	Seats won
Bass
Braddon
Denison
Franklin
Wilmot

	Labor
	Liberal

Aftermath

The subsequent election in 1959 saw the number of seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly increased to 35, which would prevent the kind of deadlock which resulted from having an even number of seats in the house.

References

↑ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
↑ Tasmanian Political Alamanc - On This Day, Parliament of Tasmania.
↑ W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.

External links

Assembly Election Results, 1956, Parliament of Tasmania.
Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1956, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

Elections and referendums in Tasmania
General elections	1856 1861 1862 1866 1871 1872 1877 1882 1886 1891 1893 1897 1900 1903 1906 1909 1912 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1941 1946 1948 1950 1955 1956 1959 1964 1969 1972 1976 1979 1982 1986 1989 1992 1996 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 next
Legislative Council elections	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Referendums	1898 1899 1916 1968 1981

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