1920 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 9 October 1920 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its third term in office since the 1915 election. It was Premier Ted Theodore's first election.

1920 Queensland state election

9 October 1920 (1920-10-09)
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	79.93 ( 0.34 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Ted Theodore William Vowles Party Labor Country/National coalition Leader since 22 October 1919 (1919-10-22) 28 January 1920 Leader's seat Chillagoe Dalby Last election 46 seats 25 seats Seats won 38 seats 33 seats Seat change 8 8 Percentage 47.77% 48.53% Swing 5.91 N/A
Premier before election Ted Theodore Labor Elected Premier Ted Theodore Labor

During the previous term, the Queensland Country Party, had re-emerged from the National bloc, taking half of the Country Party's parliamentary seats with it. A Labor member, Alfred James, switched to the party, and the Maranoa by-election in 1919 saw them gain a seat at the expense of Labor. An additional party, the Northern Country Party, also formed during this time to represent the interests of North Queensland farmers and canegrowers. In order to avoid three-cornered contests with Labor, the three parties agreed upon a division of seats between themselves.

Key dates

Date	Event
10 September 1920	The Parliament was dissolved.[1]
10 September 1920	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
18 September 1920	Close of nominations.
9 October 1920	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
12 November 1920	The Theodore Ministry was reconstituted.
15 November 1920	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Results

Queensland state election, 9 October 1920[3] Legislative Assembly << 1918–1923 >>
Enrolled voters		445,681^[1]
Votes cast		356,226		Turnout	79.93	–0.34
Informal votes		3,600		Informal	1.01	–0.17
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	168,455	47.77	–5.91	38	– 8
	National	90,730	25.73	–18.89	13	– 9
	Country	60,170	17.06	+17.06	18	+ 18
	Northern Country	20,246	5.74	+5.74	3	+ 3
	Independent Country	6,055	1.72	+1.72	0	± 0
	National Labor	4,216	1.20	+1.20	0	± 0
	Independent	2,794	0.79	–0.90	0	– 2
Total		352,666			72

¹ 462,218 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 2 Country Party seats (Cooroora and Cunningham), 1 United Party seat (Albert) and 1 Labor seat (Mitchell) were unopposed.

Seats changing party representation

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1920 election.

Party changes before election

The following seats changed party representation before the election due to the split of the National party.

Seat	Incumbent member	Former Party		New Party
Albert	John Appel		National Party		Country Party
Aubigny	Arthur Moore		National Party		Country Party
Burnett	Bernard Corser		National Party		Country Party
Cooroora	Harry Walker		National Party		Country Party
Dalby	William Vowles		National Party		Country Party
Drayton	William Bebbington		National Party		Country Party
Fassifern	Ernest Bell		National Party		Country Party
Logan	Alfred James		Labor Party		Country Party
Mirani	Edward Swayne		National Party		Northern Country
Murilla	Godfrey Morgan		National Party		Country Party
Murrumba	Richard Warren		National Party		Country Party
Nanango	Robert Hodge		National Party		Country Party

Seats changing hands at election

Seat	Incumbent member	Party		New member	Party
Burrum	Albert Whitford		Labor	William Brand		Country
Carnarvon	Donald Gunn		National	Edward Costello		Country
Cunningham	Francis Grayson		Independent	William Deacon		Country
Enoggera	William Lloyd		Labor	Jim Kerr		National
Kennedy	James O'Sullivan		Labor	John Jones		Northern Country
Logan	Alfred James		Country	Reginald King		National
Maranoa	Thomas Spencer		Country	Charles Conroy		Labor
Merthyr	Peter McLachlan		Labor	Peter MacGregor		National
Musgrave	Thomas Armfield		Labor	Henry Cattermull		Country
Nanango	Robert Hodge		Country	Jim Edwards		Independent Country
Pittsworth	Percy Bayley		Independent	Cecil Roberts		Country
Port Curtis	George Carter		Labor	John Fletcher		National
Stanley	Henry Somerset		National	Frederick Nott		Country
Townsville	Daniel Ryan		Labor	William Green		Northern Country
Wide Bay	Andrew Thompson		Labor	Harry Clayton		Country

• Members in italics did not recontest their seats.
• Sitting Country member for Maranoa, Thomas Spencer won this seat from Labor at the 1919 by-election.

See also

• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1918–1920
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1920–1923
• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1920
• Theodore Ministry

References

1. "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:923.
2. "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1920. p. 115:925.
3. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 12 May 1923". Retrieved 5 March 2010. Party data is from Hughes, Colin A.; Graham, B. D. (1976). Voting for the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1890–1964. Canberra: Australian National University. ISBN 0-7081-0301-4.