Tasmanian state election, 1931

Tasmanian state election, 1931

9 May 1931

All 30 seats to the House of Assembly   First party Second party   Leader John McPhee Albert Ogilvie Party Nationalist Labor Leader since July 1925 October 1929 Leader's seat Denison Franklin Last election 15 seats 14 seats Seats won 19 seats 10 seats Seat change 4 4 Percentage 56.40% 34.92% Swing 14.20 12.23

Premier before election John McPhee Nationalist Elected Premier John McPhee Nationalist

A general election for the House of Assembly was held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 9 May 1931.

Background

The Nationalist Party had defeated Labor by one seat at the 1928 election, and John McPhee had been Premier of Tasmania since then. Joseph Lyons had retired from state politics after his 1928 defeat and had entered federal politics, and the Labor Party was now led by Albert Ogilvie.

Results

Tasmanian state election, 9 May 1931 House of Assembly << 1928 — 1934 >>
Enrolled voters		118,730
Votes cast		112,779		Turnout	94.99%	+13.10%
Informal votes		3,885		Informal	3.44%	+0.20%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist	61,414	56.40%	+14.20%	19	+ 4
	Labor	38,030	34.92%	–12.23%	10	– 4
	Independent	9,450	8.68%	–2.07%	1	± 0
Total		108,894			30

Distribution of Seats

Electorate Seats won Bass             Darwin             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot

Nationalist   Labor   Independent

Aftermath

The Nationalist Party won the 1931 election in a landslide, with an over 22 per cent margin over Labor, and taking a nineteen seats in the House of Assembly. This was the largest victory over Labor in Tasmania since Hare-Clark elections began in 1909, and was attributed to public endorsement of McPhee's expenditure cuts over Ogilvie's expansionist policies.^[1]

The high turnout of voting in the election was due to the implementation of compulsory voting clauses of the Electoral Act for the first time.^[2]

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1931–1934
• Candidates of the Tasmanian state election, 1931

References

1. R. P. Davis, McPhee, Sir John Cameron (1878 - 1952), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 355-356.
2. Report on General Election, 1931, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

External links

• Assembly Election Results, 1931, Parliament of Tasmania.
• Report on General Election, 1931, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.