1956 Tasmanian state election
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All 30 seats to the House of Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections for the House of Assembly were held in the Australian state of Tasmania on 13 October 1956.
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.[1] Cosgrove obtained a dissolution of parliament from the Governor of Tasmania, and an election was called for 13 October.[2]
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.
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Tasmanian state election, 13 October 1956 | ||||||
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| 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 | ||||
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
- Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1956–1959
- Candidates of the Tasmanian state election, 1956
References
- ^ Tasmanian Political Alamanc - On This Day, Parliament of Tasmania.
- ^ W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.
External links
- Assembly Election Results, 1956, Parliament of Tasmania.
- Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1956, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.