1941 New South Wales state election

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1941 New South Wales state election
← 1938 10 May 1941 (1941-05-10) 1944 →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
  Williammckell.jpg Alexander mair.jpg
Leader William McKell Alexander Mair
Party Labor UAP/Country coalition
Leader since 23 September 1939 5 August 1939
Leader's seat Redfern Albury
Last election 30 seats 59 seats
Seats won 54 seats 26 seats
Seat change Increase24 Decrease33
Percentage 50.8% 31.3%
Swing Increase12.3 [a] Decrease18.4
New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1941.svg
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election

Alexander Mair
UAP/Country coalition

Elected Premier

William McKell
Labor

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.

Background[]

The 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 this had minimal impact on the election results. The 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 locally well-known 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:

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[]

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[]

Main article: Results of the 1941 New South Wales state election

New South Wales state election, 10 May 1941
Legislative Assembly
<< 1938–1944 >>

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
  Independent UAP 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  
Popular vote
Labor
 
 50.80%
United
 
 20.29%
Country
 
 11.05%
State Labor
 
 5.64%
Independent UAP
 
 3.25%
Independent Labor
 
 2.14%
Independents
 
 6.13%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
 
          54
United
 
 14
Country
 
 12
State Labor
 
 0
Independent UAPs
 
 5
Independent Labor
 
 1
Independents
 
 4

Retiring members[]

This section is an excerpt from Candidates of the 1941 New South Wales state election § Retiring members.[]

United Australia[]

Country[]

Changing seats[]

Seats changing hands
Seat 1938 1941
Party Member Member Party
Arncliffe   Labor Joseph Cahill District abolished
Ashburnham   Country Hilton Elliott Edgar Dring Labor  
Barwon [c] Roy Heferen
Blacktown New district Frank Hill
Bondi   United Australia Norman Thomas Abe Landa
Burwood Harrie Mitchell Gordon Jackett Independent UAP  
Castlereagh   Country Alfred Yeo Jack Renshaw Labor  
Concord   United Australia Stan Lloyd Bill Carlton
Cook's River New district Joseph Cahill
Coogee   United Australia Thomas Mutch Lou Cunningham
Cootamundra   Country Bill Ross District abolished
Dulwich Hill   United Australia Guy Arkins George Weir Labor  
Drummoyne John Lee Robert Greig
Dulwich Hill   Labor Guy Arkins George Weir
Georges River   United Australia Cecil Monro Arthur Williams
Glebe   Labor Bill Carlton District abolished
Gloucester   United Australia Charles Bennett Ray Fitzgerald Independent  
Hawkesbury Bruce Walker Frank Finnan Labor  
Hornsby James Shand Sydney Storey Independent UAP  
Hurstville [d] Clive Evatt Labor  
Kogarah James Ross William Currey
Liverpool Plains   Country Harry Carter Roger Nott
Monaro William Hedges John Seiffert
Mosman   United Australia Herbert Lloyd Donald Macdonald Independent UAP  
Murrumbidgee   Country Robert Hankinson [e] George Enticknap Independent Labor
Namoi Colin Sinclair [e] Raymond Hamilton Labor  
North Sydney   United Australia Hubert Primrose James Geraghty
Orange Alwyn Tonking Bob O'Halloran
Oxley Lewis Martin George Mitchell Independent  
Petersham Eric Solomon District abolished
Randwick Arthur Moverly William Gollan Labor  
Rockdale New district John McGrath
Ryde [f]   United Australia James Shand Independent UAP  
South Coast Henry Bate Rupert Beale Independent
Tamworth [g] Bill Chaffey Independent UAP
Wagga Wagga   Country Matthew Kilpatrick Eddie Graham Labor  
Waverley [h]   United Australia Clarrie Martin
Wollongong-Kembla New district Billy Davies
Yass   United Australia George Ardill Bill Sheahan
Young   Country Albert Reid Fred Cahill

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b Labor swing includes Industrial Labor which was readmitted into Labor in August 1939.
  2. ^ 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]
  3. ^ Ben Wade (Country) resigned and the resulting by-election was won by Roy Heferen (Labor) who retained the seat at this election.
  4. ^ James Webb (United Australia) died and Clive Evatt (Industrial Labor) won the resulting by-election, retaining the seat as a Labor candidate.
  5. ^ a b Retired.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ John Waddell (United Australia) died and Clarrie Martin (Industrial Labor) won the resulting by-election, retaining the seat as a Labor candidate.

References[]

  1. ^ Green, Antony. "1941 election totals". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  2. ^ 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.
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