Victorian state election, 1920

Victorian state election, 1920
Victoria (Australia)
21 October 1920 (1920-10-21)
54 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly

  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Harry Lawson George Prendergast John Allan
Party Nationalist Labor VFU
Leader since May 1918 18 June 1918
Leader's seat Castlemaine and Maldon North Melbourne Rodney
Last election 40 seats 18 seats 4 seats
Seats won 30 seats 20 seats 13 seats
Seat change Decrease 10 Increase 2 Increase 9
Percentage 47.95% 29.28% 14.41%
Swing Decrease 9.03 Decrease 3.00 Increase 8.28
Premier before election

Harry Lawson
Nationalist

 Elected Premier

Harry Lawson
Nationalist

The 1920 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 21 October 1920 to elect 54 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.[1]

Background

The Nationalist party had reunited after the 1917 election in which the Nationalist members supporting John Bowser defeated those supporting the former Premier Alexander Peacock over his decision to increase country rail fares, and formed a majority government with 40 members. Bowser resigned as premier in March 1918, having little taste for the office, and was replaced by Peacock supporter Harry Lawson.

Meanwhile, in rural Victoria, the Victorian Farmers' Union had been gathering support and was looking to gain more seats from the Nationalists in these regions. This election would be their debut as a major force in Victorian politics where neither the Nationalists and their successors or Labor could form government without their support (or that of their successors, the Country Party) until 1952.

Results

Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 21 October 1920[1][2]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1917 — 1921 >>

Enrolled voters 735,054
Votes cast 468,223 Turnout 63.70 +9.49
Informal votes 20,593 Informal 4.40 +1.25
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Nationalist 214,650 47.95 −9.03 30 –10
  Labor 131,083 29.28 –3.00 20 +2
  Victorian Farmers 64,500 14.41 +8.28 13 +9
  Ind. Nationalist 22,448 5.01 * 1 +1
  Independent 14,949 3.34 +0.98 1 +1
Total 447,630     65  

Notes:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 (ISBN 0708102700).
  2. ↑ Election held on 21 October 1920, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).
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