1959 Tasmanian state election

The 1959 Tasmanian state election was held on 2 May 1959 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The number of members were increased from this election from 30 to 35. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — seven members were elected from each of five electorates.

1959 Tasmanian state election
2 May 1959
All 35 seats to the House of Assembly
  First party Second party
 
Leader Eric Reece Tim Jackson
Party Labor Liberal
Leader since 26 August 1958 26 June 1956
Leader's seat Braddon Franklin
Last election 15 seats 15 seats
Seats won 17 seats 16 seats
Seat change Increase2 Increase1
Percentage 44.5% 41.05%
Swing Decrease5.77 Decrease2.54
Premier before election

Eric Reece
Labor

 Resulting Premier

Eric Reece
Labor

The two previous elections had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock due to an even number of seats (30) in the House of Assembly. Prior to the 1959 election, the number of seats was increased to 35.[2]

Robert Cosgrove had retired as Premier of Tasmania, and had been replaced by Eric Reece on 26 August 1958.

Results
See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1959

The Labor Party won the most seats in the newly expanded House of Assembly, but not enough to govern in a majority as two seats were won by Independents. The 1959 election was the last occasion in which an ungrouped independent (Bill Wedd) won a seat in Tasmania.[3]

Former Labor Treasurer Dr Reg Turnbull won two quotas in his own right as an independent in Bass, representing 5.64% of the statewide result.

Tasmanian state election, 2 May 1959
House of Assembly
<< 1956–1964 >>

Enrolled voters 180,344
Votes cast 170,559 Turnout 94.57 –0.65
Informal votes 9,816 Informal 5.76 +1.57
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 71,535 44.50 –5.77 17 + 2
  Liberal 66,005 41.05 –2.54 16 + 1
  Democratic Labor 8,510 5.29 +1.82 0 ± 0
  Independent 14,549 9.05 +6.45 2 + 2
  Communist 144 0.09 +0.03 0 ± 0
Total 160,743     35  
Popular vote
Labor
 
 44.50%
Liberal
 
 41.05%
Democratic Labor
 
 5.29%
Communist
 
 0.09%
Independents
 
 9.05%
Seats
Labor
 
 48.57%
Liberal
 
 45.71%
Independents
 
 5.71%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division
Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot
Labor Party31.6%52.2%39.5%46.3%53.5%
Liberal Party36.3%42.4%39.8%43.8%43.2%
Other32.1%5.4%20.7%10.0%3.4%

Distribution of seats

See also

References
  1. House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
  2. Curtin, Jennifer: The 1998 Tasmanian Election: Women and Proportional Representation Archived 2008-09-10 at the Wayback Machine, Parliament of Australia, 10 November 1998.
  3. Green, Antony: Independents to be disadvantaged by ACT electoral changes, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 May 2008.
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