1920 New South Wales state election

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1920 New South Wales state election
← 1917 20 March 1920 (1920-03-20) 1922 →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  John Storey cropped.jpg William Holman 1919.jpg George Beeby 1927 (cropped).jpg
Leader John Storey William Holman George Beeby
Party Labor Nationalist Progressive
Leader since February 1917 15 November 1916 1915
Leader's seat Balmain Cootamundra (defeated) Murray
Last election 33 seats 52 seats 0 seats
Seats won 43 seats 28 seats 15 seats
Seat change Increase10 Decrease24 Increase15
Percentage 43.03 29.62% 16.94%
Swing Increase0.40 Decrease17.82 Increase16.94
New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1920.svg
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election

William Holman
Nationalist

Elected Premier

John Storey
Labor

The 1920 New South Wales state election was held on 20 March 1920. The 24th parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 18 February 1920 by the Governor, Sir Walter Edward Davidson, on the advice of the Premier William Holman. The election was for all of the 90 seats in the 25th New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and it was the first to be conducted with multi-member electorates, using the Hare-Clark single transferable vote system.

Key dates[]

Date Event
18 February 1920 The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
28 February 1920 Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
20 March 1920 Polling day.
12 April 1920 Storey ministry sworn in
21 April 1920 Writs returned.
27 April 1920 Opening of 25th Parliament.

Results[]

See also: Results of the 1920 New South Wales state election

The assembly was evenly divided, with Labor having 43 seats and the support of Percy Brookfield (Socialist Labor) and Arthur Gardiner (Independent Labor), while the Nationalists had 28 seats and the support of 15 seats of the Progressive Party and 2 independent Nationalists.[1][2][3] The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly did not vote unless there was a tie which meant whichever side provided the speaker was unable to command a majority. Nationalist Daniel Levy controversially accepted re-election as speaker, giving Labor an effective majority.[4][5]


1920 New South Wales state election [1]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1917–1922 >>

Enrolled voters 1,154,437
Votes cast 648,709 Turnout 56.19 −5.24
Informal votes 62,900 Informal 9.70 +8.68
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 252,371 43.08 +0.45 43 +10
  Nationalist 175,280 29.92 −17.52 28 −24
  Progressive 88,557 15.12 +15.12 15 +15
  Independent [a] 28,321 4.83 -2.57 1 –3
  Ind. Nationalist 9,357 1.60 –0.87 2 +1
  Socialist Labor 6,232 1.06 +1.00 1 +1
  All others 25,691 4.39 +4.39 0  
Total 585,809     90  
Results of 1920
Popular vote
Labor
 
 43.08%
Nationalist
 
 29.92%
Progressive
 
 15.12%
Independent
 
 4.83%
Ind. Nationalist
 
 1.60%
Socialist Labor
 
 1.06%
Others
 
 4.39%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
 
          43
Nationalist
 
 28
Progressive
 
 15
Ind. Nationalist
 
 2
Independent
 
 1
Socialist Labor
 
 1

Changing seats[]

1917 election 1920 election
Old Electorate Member Party Note New Electorate New Member Party
Darling Harbour John Cochran   Labor Retired Balmain
Glebe Tom Keegan Defeated
Leichhardt Campbell Carmichael Labor / Soldiers & Citizens Defeated Albert Smith Nationalist  
Lyndhurst Claude Bushell Labor Retired Bathurst
Enmore David Hall   Nationalist Appointed an MLC Botany John Lee Nationalist  
Byron John Perry Retired Byron Tom Swiney Labor  
Clarence William Zuill Defeated Stephen Perdriau Progressive  
Cootamundra William Holman Defeated Cootamundra Hugh Main
Camden John Hunt Retired Cumberland Ernest Carr Nationalist  
Hawkesbury Bruce Walker   Independent Changed party Bruce Walker
Voltaire Molesworth Labor  
Bondi James MacArthur-Onslow   Nationalist Changed party Eastern Suburbs James MacArthur-Onslow Progressive  
Randwick David Storey Appointed an MLC Harold Jaques Nationalist  
James Fingleton Labor  
Woollahra William Latimer   Nationalist Appointed an MLC Bob O'Halloran
Bega William Millard Defeated Goulburn Thomas Rutledge Progressive  
Durham Walter Bennett   Independent Changed party Maitland Walter Bennett
Maitland Charles Nicholson   Nationalist Defeated Walter O'Hearn Labor  
Singleton James Fallick Retired
Albury Arthur Manning Defeated Murray Matthew Kilpatrick Progressive  
Wagga Wagga George Beeby Changed party George Beeby
Lachlan Ernest Buttenshaw Changed party Murrumbidgee Ernest Buttenshaw
Macquarie Patrick McGirr   Labor Defeated Martin Flannery Labor  
Murrumbidgee Patrick McGarry   Nationalist Defeated  
Gwydir John Crane Defeated Namoi Patrick Scully Labor  
Namoi Walter Wearne   Ind. Nationalist Changed party Walter Wearne Progressive  
Kahibah Alfred Edden   Nationalist Retired Newcastle Hugh Connell Labor  
Wickham William Grahame Defeated [b] John Fegan Nationalist  
Mosman Percy Colquhoun Defeated North Shore Alfred Reid Ind. Nationalist  
Cecil Murphy Labor  
Armidale Herbert Lane   Nationalist Defeated Northern Tableland David Drummond Progressive  
Bingara George McDonald Appointed an MLC Alfred McClelland Labor  
Gough Follett Thomas Defeated [c]  
Tenterfield Charles Lee Retired Michael Bruxner Progressive  
Gloucester Richard Price   Independent Changed party Oxley Richard Price
Hastings and Macleay Henry Morton   Nationalist Defeated Joseph Fitzgerald Labor  
Raleigh George Briner Changed party George Briner Progressive  
Parramatta Bill Ely Labor  
Drummoyne Alexander Graff   Nationalist / Independent Retired Ryde Edward Loxton Ind. Nationalist  
Gordon Thomas Bavin Nationalist Changed party Thomas Bavin Progressive  
Ryde William Thompson Retired David Anderson Nationalist  
Robert Greig Labor  
St George Mark Gosling
Sturt Percy Brookfield   Labor / Independent Sturt Percy Brookfield Socialist Labor  
Willyama Jabez Wright Labor Defeated  
King Tom Smith Defeated Sydney  Patrick Minahan Labor [d]  
Ashfield William Robson   Nationalist Appointed an MLC Western Suburbs Edward McTiernan Labor
James Wilson Progressive  
Allowrie Mark Morton   Nationalist Defeated Wollondilly John Cleary Labor  

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Includes Independent Labor.
  2. ^ Stood as an Ind. Nationalist
  3. ^ Stood as a Progressive candidate
  4. ^ Patrick Minahan was nominated by the Labor Party, however his endorsement was withdrawn before the polling day because he signed a pledge for the unconditional release of twelve imprisoned members of the Industrial Workers of the World.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Green, Antony. "1920 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  2. ^ Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856 (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Former members of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856–2006". New South Wales Parliament. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ^ Fredman, L E. "Levy, Sir Daniel (1872–1937)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 10 May 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  5. ^ Fitzpatrick, John (27 April 1920). "Election of speaker" (PDF). Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). New South Wales: Legislative Assembly. pp. 18–33. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. ^ "The ALP: definite action taken against candidates who sign pledges". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 March 1920. p. 11. Retrieved 2 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
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