1897 Western Australian colonial election

(Redirected from 1897 Western Australian state election)

27 April – 26 May 1897

1901 →

All 44 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

	First party	Second party

Leader	John Forrest	George Leake
Party	Ministerialist	Oppositionist
Leader since	22 December 1890	1895
Leader's seat	Bunbury	Albany
Last election	19 seats	13 seats
Seats won	29 seats	8 seats
Seat change	10	5
Percentage	49.80%	27.35%

Winning party by electorate

Premier before election

John Forrest
Ministerialist

Elected Premier

John Forrest
Ministerialist

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. 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
Votes cast		9,016		Turnout	52.68%
Informal votes		279		Informal	3.09%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Ministerialist	4,351	49.80%		29	+ 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:

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.

v t e 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
Legislative Council elections	1894 1896 1897 1898 1900 (Apr) 1900 (Sep) 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962
Local elections	1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023
Referendums	1900 1911 1921 1925 1933 1950 1975 1984 1992 2005 2009
See also: By-elections

Categories:

Results

See also

References