The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33rd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single-member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting.
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All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Two-candidate-preferred margin by electorate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editThe replacement of Jack Lang by William McKell as leader of the Labor Party in 1939 reunited and rejuvenated the party. A small number of Labor party members continued to support the far-left-wing State Labor Party (Hughes-Evans) but that had minimal impact on the election results. The Labor Party moved away from Lang's populist, inflationary policies, which were seen as extremist by many voters in the middle ground of the political spectrum. McKell also improved the party's standing in rural electorates by personally selecting well-known local candidates.
By contrast, the internal party divisions and lack of policy direction affecting the United Australia Party (UAP) had resulted in Alexander Mair replacing Bertram Stevens as leader of the UAP and Premier in August 1939. The problems continued in the period prior to the election and throughout the course of the new parliament. These divisions were reflected federally in the forced resignation of Robert Menzies as the Prime Minister in August 1941, and the UAP disintegrated at a state level in 1943. The remnants of the UAP combined with the newly formed Commonwealth Party to form the Democratic Party in that year. Mair remained Leader of the Opposition until 10 February 1944 when he was replaced by Reginald Weaver.
The result of the election was a landslide victory for the Labor Party:
- Australian Labor Party 54 seats
- Independent Labor 1 seat
- United Australia Party 14 seats
- Independent UAP 5 seats
- Country Party 12 seats
- Independent 4 seats.
The Labor Party government of McKell had a majority of 18 and McKell remained Premier throughout the term of the Parliament. The Labor Party won two further seats from the Country Party at by-elections during the parliament. Jack Lang was expelled from the Labor Party in 1943, having persistently attacked the governments of McKell and Australian Prime minister John Curtin. Lang remained in parliament as the sole representative of Lang Labor.
This would be the first of NSW Labor's eight consecutive election victories.
Key dates
edit| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 18 April 1941 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 22 April 1941 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
| 10 May 1941 | Polling day. |
| 16 May 1941 | First McKell Ministry sworn in. |
| 17 June 1941 | Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared. |
| 28 May 1941 | Opening of 33rd Parliament. |
Results
edit|
New South Wales state election, 10 May 1941 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 1,684,781[b] | |||||
| Votes cast | 1,389,896 | Turnout | 92.52 | −3.27 | ||
| Informal votes | 35,858 | Informal | 2.52 | −0.13 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Labor | 706,014 | 50.80 | +12.28 [a] | 54 | + 24 | |
| United Australia | 281,982 | 20.29 | –15.57 | 14 | –23 | |
| Country | 153,639 | 11.05 | –2.81 | 12 | –10 | |
| State Labor | 78,363 | 5.64 | +5.64 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Ind. United Australia | 45,195 | 3.25 | +3.25 | 5 | +5 | |
| Independent Labor | 29,677 | 2.14 | +2.14 | 1 | +1 | |
| New Social Order | 8,906 | 0.64 | +0.64 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent Coalition | 925 | 0.07 | +0.07 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independent | 85,195 | 6.13 | –4.75 | 4 | +3 | |
| Total | 1,389,896 | 90 | ||||
Retiring members
editChanging seats
editSee also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b Labor swing includes Industrial Labor which was readmitted into Labor in August 1939.
- ^ There were 1,540,974 enrolled voters in contested electorates and 143,807 were enrolled in 7 uncontested electorates (four UAP and three Labor).[1]
- ^ Ben Wade (Country) resigned and the resulting by-election was won by Roy Heferen (Labor) who retained the seat at this election.
- ^ James Webb (United Australia) died and Clive Evatt (Industrial Labor) won the resulting by-election, retaining the seat as a Labor candidate.
- ^ a b Retired.
- ^ Eric Spooner (United Australia) resigned and Arthur Williams (Labor) won the resulting by-election, but after the re-distribution Labor did not field a candidate.
- ^ Frank Chaffey (United Australia) died. His son Bill Chaffey won the resulting by-election as a UAP candidate however declined UAP endorsement for the 1941 election on the basis his support came from the Country Party as well as the UAP.
- ^ John Waddell (United Australia) died and Clarrie Martin (Industrial Labor) won the resulting by-election, retaining the seat as a Labor candidate.
References
edit- ^ Green, Antony. "1941 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ Walker was on trial for conspiracy charges: "Conspiracy charge: Walker in box". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 May 1941. p. 5. Retrieved 3 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- Nairn, Bede (1995). Jack Lang the 'Big Fella': Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891-1949. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 9780522843293.