1891 New South Wales colonial election
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All 141 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 71 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Legislative Assembly after the election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1891 New South Wales colonial election was held in the then colony of New South Wales between 17 June to 3 July 1891. This election was for all of the 141 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in 35 single-member constituencies, 20 2-member constituencies, 10 3-member constituencies and nine 4-member constituencies, all with a first past the post system. Part 1 (section 10) of the Electoral Act of 1880 set the qualification for election on “every male subject of Her Majesty of the full age of twenty-one years and absolutely free being a natural born or naturalized subject”.[1] Seven seats were uncontested. The previous parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 6 June 1891 by the Governor, The Earl of Jersey, on the advice of the Premier, Sir Henry Parkes.
The election saw the first appearance of the Labor Party (then known as the Labour Electoral League of New South Wales), which won 35 seats, taking a significant number of votes and seats from both of the previous two major parties in the Assembly, and giving Labour the balance of power.[2] The main political parties in New South Wales, the Protectionist Party and the Free Trade Party both lost seats to Labour, with Parkes' Free Trade government losing office to George Dibbs' Protectionists after Dibbs arranged for support for his government from Labour.
Key dates
Date | Event |
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6 June 1891 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
15 to 24 June 1891 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed. |
17 June to 3 July 1891 | Polling days. |
14 July 1891 | Opening of new Parliament. |
Results
New South Wales colonial election, 3 July 1891 | ||||||
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Enrolled voters | ||||||
Votes cast | 180,449 | Turnout | 64.40 | +4.87 | ||
Informal votes | 3,680 | Informal | 2.00 | +0.28 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Ändern Sie | |
Protectionist | 65,866 | 32.6 | -18.8 | 52 | −14 | |
Free Trade | 65,850 | 32.6 | −16.0 | 44 | −27 | |
Labor | 37,216 | 18.4 | +18.4 | 35 | +35 | |
Independent | 21,595 | 10.7 | +7.6 | 12 | +8 | |
Ind. Free Trade | 6,684 | 3.3 | +3.3 | 4 | +4 | |
Ind. Protectionist | 3,627 | 1.8 | +1.8 | 4 | +4 | |
Independent Labor | 759 | 0.4 | +0.4 | 1 | +1 | |
Independent | 445 | 0.25 | +0.25 | 1 | +1 | |
Total | 202,042 | 141 |
References
- ^ Electoral Act of 1880, s.10
- ^ So Monstrous a Travesty, Ross McMullen. Scribe Publications 2004. p.4.
Bibliography
- "Former members of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856-2006". New South Wales Parliament.
- Antony Green. "NSW Elections Analysis". New South Wales Parliament. Retrieved 6 April 2015.