1948 Sydney City Council election
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| Turnout | 75%[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1948 Sydney City Council election was held on 4 December 1948 to elect councillors to the City of Sydney, a local government area of New South Wales, Australia.[2]
Labor won a majority on council for the first time in 21 years, defeating the Civic Reform Association.[3]
Although scheduled to be held as part of the statewide local elections in 1947, the election was delayed by a year.[4]
Background[edit]
In 1947, the state Labor government expanded the boundaries of the City of Sydney to include the following municipalities:[1]
This saw the number of councillors increase from 20 to 30. The existing five four-member wards − Fitzroy, Flinders, Gipps, Macquarie and Phillip − were unchanged, while another four were created:[1]
- Newtown Ward (four councillors)
- Glebe Ward (two councillors)
- Redfern Ward (two councillors)
- Paddington Ward (two councillors)
This was also the first Sydney City Council election to use first-past-the-post, replacing preferential voting. The change only lasted several years.[5]
Campaign[edit]
Civic Reform campaigned against Labor on a message of "keeping local government in Sydney free of politics".[6]
114 candidates contested the election, with seven different groups endorsing candidates:[7][8][9]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b On 6 April 1945, Labor alderman Paddy Stokes (Phillip Ward) died. The by-election held on 5 May was won by Lang Labor candidate Horace Foley.
- ^ Civic Reform alderman William Neville Harding (Macquarie Ward) left the CRA to form the City Progressives ahead of the election.
- ^ In Fitzroy Ward, the City Progressives candidates were reported by The Sydney Morning Herald to be endorsed by the King's Cross Citizens and Ratepayers' Association.[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Golder, Hilary. "A short electoral history of the Sydney City Council" (PDF). City of Sydney. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2024.
- ^ "City of Sydney poll result". The Daily Telegraph. 6 December 1948.
- ^ "City Council Election". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 December 1948.
- ^ "City Elections". City of Sydney. Kings Cross Times.
The usual triennial municipal elections due December 1947, were postponed by the Government for 12 months.
- ^ "FIRST PAST POST VOTING FOR COUNCIL". Trove. Daily Mirror.
- ^ "ELECTION PLEDGE OF PARTY". Trove. Daily Mirror.
- ^ "Labour gets control of Sydney Council". The West Australian. 6 December 1948.
- ^ a b "City Council Election Candidates". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 November 1948.
- ^ "Communist Candidates". Tribune. 13 November 1948.