1955 Victorian state election
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65 (of the 66) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 34 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1955 Victorian state election was held in the Australian
The incumbent
Background
The leader of the opposition
The election was triggered by events related to the
In the Victorian parliament, the anti-Communists were known as the Barry–Coleman group after the leaders of the faction: Bill Barry in the Legislative Assembly and Les Coleman in the Legislative Council. In April 1955, Barry and Coleman wrote to Cain requesting a unity conference, but the request was rejected, with Cain telling the group that they could only achieve unity within the ALP, by accepting the authority of the Labor federal conference and executive, and the Victorian central executive.[1]
On the night of 19 April, Bolte moved a
Key dates
Date | Event |
---|---|
20 April 1955 | The Cain government was defeated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by a motion of no-confidence.[2] |
22 April 1955 | The Parliament was prorogued, and the Legislative Assembly dissolved.[4] |
26 April 1955 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[4] |
6 May 1955 | Close of nominations.[4] |
28 May 1955 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
7 June 1955 | Interim Bolte Ministry was sworn in.[5]
|
8 June 1955 | The remainder of the Bolte Ministry was sworn in.[6]
|
15 June 1955 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
15 June 1955 | Parliament resumed for business.[7] |
Results
Legislative Assembly
Victorian state election, 28 May 1955[8][9] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolled voters | 1,402,588 | |||||
Votes cast | 1,318,934 | Turnout | 94.02 | +0.44 | ||
Informal votes | 28,955 | Informal | 2.19 | +0.38 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Liberal and Country
|
487,408 | 37.78 | +12.93 | 33 | +22 | |
Labor | 420,197 | 32.57 | −16.50 | 20 | −17 | |
Labor (A-C) | 162,660 | 12.61 | +12.61 | 1 | +1 | |
Country | 122,999 | 9.53 | +1.19 | 11 | −1 | |
Independent | 45,570 | 3.53 | −3.38 | 1 | ±0 | |
Victorian Liberal | 44,692 | 3.46 | −6.13 | 0 | −4 | |
Communist | 4,589 | 0.35 | −0.88 | 0 | ±0 | |
Henry George Justice | 1,864 | 0.14 | +0.14 | 0 | ±0 | |
Total | 1,289,979 | 66 | ||||
Two-party-preferred | ||||||
Liberal and Country
|
755,917 | 57.9 | +14.6 | |||
Labor | 549,233 | 42.1 | –14.6 |
Notes:
- The seat of Gippsland South was retained uncontested by Sir Herbert Hyland for the Country Party. Figures for enrolled voters and ballots cast are for contested seats only.
- The Victorian Liberal Party contested the previous election as the Electoral Reform League. The party was formed by a group of disaffected former Liberal and Country Party members who followed Thomas Hollway when he was expelled from the L&CP.
See also
- Candidates of the 1955 Victorian state election
- 1955 Victorian Legislative Council election
- Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1955–1958
- Members of the Victorian Legislative Council, 1955–1958
References
- ^ "Labor split widens CAIN SNUBS BARRY MEN; POLL 'SURE'". The Argus (FINAL ed.). Melbourne. 16 April 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 10 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "Victorian Govt. Defeated; Election On May 28". The Central Queensland Herald. Rockhampton, Qld. 21 April 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Ainsley Symons (2012), 'Democratic Labor Party members in the Victorian Parliament of 1955–1958,' in Recorder (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No. 275, November, Pages 4-5.
- ^ a b c "Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 22 April 1955. p. 1955:1807.
- ^ "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 7 June 1955. p. 1955:2803.
- ^ "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 8 June 1955. p. 1955:2845.
- ^ "Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 27 July 1961. p. 1955:2585.
- ^ Election held on 28 May 1955, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).
- ISBN 0708102700).