1897 Western Australian colonial election

1897 Western Australian colonial election
All 44 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Premier before election; John Forrest;	Elected Premier ; John Forrest;

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia between 27 April and 26 May 1897 to elect 44 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Ministerialist group led by John Forrest won a third term in office as a result of the elections. The poll took place based on boundaries established in the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1896, which increased the number of members from 33 mainly by adding new seats in the Goldfields region, and had been called a year earlier than was necessary.^[1] In 18 of the 44 seats, only one candidate nominated and polls were not held.

As payment of members was not introduced until 1900, the Political Labour Party, formed in 1896, had found it difficult to attract candidates who could afford to enter Parliament, but three of its candidates ran for election, and Charles Oldham, a former president of the Trades and Labor Council, became the first Labour member of Parliament in Western Australia.

Results[]

Western Australian state election, 1897 Legislative Assembly
Enrolled voters		17,114^[1]
Votes cast		9,016		Turnout	52.68%
Informal votes		279		Informal	3.09%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Ministerial	4,351	49.80%		29^[1]	+ 10
	Opposition	2,390	27.35%		8	– 5
	Independent	1,613	18.46%		6	+ 5
	Labor	383	4.38%	+4.38%	1	+ 1
Total		8,737			44

Notes:

¹ The Ministerialists' total of 29 seats includes 16 which were uncontested, representing 4,297 of the 23,318 enrolled voters. A further two seats, won by George Leake (Albany, Oppositionist) and Elias Solomon (South Fremantle, Independent) representing 1,907 enrolled voters were also uncontested.

References[]

^ de Garis, Brian (1991). "Self-Government and Political Parties". In Black, David (ed.). The house on the hill: A history of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990. West Perth: Parliament of Western Australia. pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-7309-3983-9.

[black-1] Garis, Brian (1991). "Self-Government and Political Parties". In Black, David (ed.). The house on the hill: A history of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990. West Perth: Parliament of Western Australia. pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-7309-3983-9.

[1]

[1]

v t Elections and referendums in Western Australia
General elections	1890 1894 1897 1901 1904 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1936 1939 1943 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1993 1996 2001 2005 2008 2013 2017 2021 2025 by-elections
Legislative Council elections	1956 1958 1960 1962
Referendums	1900 1925 1933 1950 1975 1984 1992 2005 2009

1897 Western Australian colonial election

Results[]

See also[]

References[]