1956 Tasmanian state election
13 October 1956
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
  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 Steady0 Steady0
Percentage 50.27% 43.61%
Swing Decrease2.36 Decrease1.74
Premier before election

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

 Resulting Premier

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

The 1956 Tasmanian state election 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  
Popular vote
Labor
 
 50.27%
Liberal
 
 43.61%
Labor (Anti-Communist)
 
 3.47%
Communist
 
 0.06%
Independents
 
 2.60%
Seats
Labor
 
 50.00%
Liberal
 
 50.00%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot
Labor Party51.5%48.5%48.7%49.0%53.7%
Liberal Party44.5%46.9%41.4%42.9%42.5%
Other4.0%4.6%9.9%8.1%3.8%

Distribution of seats

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.

See also

References

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