1953 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 February 1953 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The two-term Liberal-Country Party coalition government, led by Premier Sir Ross McLarty, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Albert Hawke.

1953 Western Australian state election
14 February 1953
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Albert Hawke Ross McLarty
Party Labor Liberal/Country coalition
Leader since 3 July 1951 14 December 1946
Leader's seat Northam Murray-Wellington
Last election 23 seats 24 seats
Seats won 26 seats 24 seats
Seat change 3 0
Percentage 49.76% 42.86%
Swing 7.92 6.53
Premier before election

Ross McLarty
Liberal/Country coalition

 Elected Premier

Albert Hawke
Labor

The election was notable in that 22 of the 50 seats were not contested at the election. Only two other elections—those held in 1890 and 1894—had a greater percentage or number of uncontested seats.

Key dates
Date Event
7 January 1953 The Legislative Council was prorogued and the Legislative Assembly was dissolved.[1]
23 January 1953 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
30 January 1953 Close of nominations.
14 February 1953 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
23 February 1953 The McLarty–Watts Ministry resigned and the Hawke Ministry was sworn in.
27 February 1953 The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
6 August 1953 Parliament was summoned for business.[3]

Results

Western Australian state election, 14 February 1953
Legislative Assembly
<< 1950–1956 >>

Enrolled voters 205,644[1]
Votes cast 192,225 Turnout 93.47% +0.86%
Informal votes 5,028 Informal 2.62% +0.64%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 93,157 49.76% +7.92% 26 + 3
  Liberal and Country 71,042 37.95% –2.13% 15 ± 0
  Country 9,196 4.91% –4.40% 9 ± 0
  Ind. Lib. 3,458 1.85% –0.40% 0 – 2
  Communist 1,350 0.72% +0.36% 0 ± 0
  Independent 8,994 4.80% –1.35% 0 – 1
Total 192,225     50  
1 319,941 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 22 seats (44% of the total) were uncontested—12 Labor seats (six more than 1950) representing 65,993 enrolled voters, 3 Liberal seats (one more than 1950) representing 14,297 enrolled voters, and 7 Country seats (three more than 1950) representing 34,007 enrolled voters.
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See also

References
  1. "Prorogation of the Legislative Council and Dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. Proclamation". Western Australia Government Gazette. 9 January 1953. p. 1953:41.
  2. "The Electoral Act, 1907–1952. Legislative Assembly General Election, 1953". Western Australia Government Gazette. 23 January 1953. p. 1953:157.
  3. "Parliament Summoned to Meet for Business - Proclamation". Western Australia Government Gazette. 13 May 1953. p. 1953:983.
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