1961 Victorian state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Victoria on 15 July 1961 to elect the 66 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 17 members of the 34-member Legislative Council. MLAs were elected for three year terms and MLCs were elected for six year terms. All were elected in single-member districts or provinces using preferential voting.

1961 Victorian state election

15 July 1961
All 66 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and 17 (of the 34) seats in the Victorian Legislative Council
First party Second party Third party   Leader Henry Bolte Clive Stoneham Herbert Hyland Party Liberal and Country Labor Country Leader since 3 May 1953 1958 1955 Leader's seat Hampden Midlands Gippsland South Last election 39 seats 18 seats 9 seats Seats won 39 seats 17 seats 9 seats Seat change 0 1 0 Percentage 36.44% 38.55% 7.14% Swing 0.74 0.86 2.16
Premier before election Henry Bolte Liberal and Country Premier after election Henry Bolte Liberal and Country

The Liberal and Country Party (LCP) government of Premier Henry Bolte won a third term in office. It was the first Victorian election at which all seats in both houses were contested by at least two candidates, and the first at which both houses were contested on the same day.

Key dates

Date	Event
24 May 1961	The Parliament was prorogued.[1]
1 June 1961	Writs were issued by the Administrator to proceed with an election.[2]
23 June 1961	Close of nominations.
15 July 1961	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
28 July 1961	The Bolte Ministry was reconstituted, with two new ministers sworn in.[3]
1 August 1961	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
1 August 1961	Parliament resumed for business.[4]

Results

Legislative Assembly

The election produced almost no change in the electoral balance.

Victorian state election, 15 July 1961[5] Legislative Assembly << 1958–1964 >>
Enrolled voters		1,554,856
Votes cast		1,554,856		Turnout	94.41	+0.18
Informal votes		35,937		Informal	2.45	+0.67
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	552,015	38.55	+0.86	17	– 1
	Liberal and Country	521,777	36.44	–0.74	39	± 0
	Democratic Labor	242,753	16.95	+2.53	0	± 0
	Country	102,184	7.14	–2.16	9	± 0
	Other	3,722	0.26	+0.16	0	± 0
	Independent	9,474	0.66	–0.64	1	+ 1
Total		1,431,925			66
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal and Country	829,977	57.9	+0.1
	Labor	602,493	42.1	–0.1

Legislative Council

Victorian state election, 15 July 1961[6] Legislative Council << 1958–1964 >>
Enrolled voters		1,554,856
Votes cast		1,467,482		Turnout	94.3	+8.0
Informal votes		46,697		Informal	3.2	+1.5
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held
	Labor	552,075	38.9	–0.3	4	9
	Liberal and Country	538,013	37.9	+2.1	9	17
	Democratic Labor	237,464	16.7	+1.8	0	0
	Country	88,416	6.2	+0.7	4	8
	Independent	4,817	0.3	+0.3	0	0
Total		1,420,785			17	34

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1961				Swing	Post-1961
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Moorabbin		Liberal and Country	Bob Suggett	9.4	N/A	8.7	Bob Suggett	Independent Liberal
Oakleigh		Labor	Val Doube	1.8	-4.2	2.5	Alan Scanlan	Liberal and Country

• In addition, the LCP retained the seat of Ballarat North which it had won from the Country party at the 1960 by-election.

See also

• Candidates of the Victorian state election, 1961
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1958–1961
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1961–1964
• Bolte Ministry

References

1. "Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly". Victorian Government Gazette. 24 May 1961. p. 1961:1747.
2. "General Election". Victorian Government Gazette. 24 May 1961. p. 1961:1748.
3. "Ministers of the Crown". Victorian Government Gazette. 28 July 1961. p. 1961:2601.
4. "Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria". Victorian Government Gazette. 27 July 1961. p. 1961:2585.
5. Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Victoria, Assembly election, 15 July 1961". Retrieved 1 February 2010.
6. Carr, Adam. "Victoria Legislative Council Election 1961". Psephos Election Archive. Retrieved 29 September 2015.