1910 New South Wales state election

The 1910 New South Wales state election was held on 14 October 1910 for all of the 90 seats in the 22nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in single-member constituencies with a second ballot if a majority was not achieved on the first. Both adult males and females were entitled to vote, but not Indigenous people. The 21st parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 14 September 1910 by the Governor, Lord Chelmsford, on the advice of the Premier Charles Wade.^[1][2][3]

1910 New South Wales state election

← 1907 14 October 1910 (1910-10-14) 1913 →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader James McGowen Charles Wade Party Labour Liberal Reform Leader since August 1894 2 October 1907 Leader's seat Redfern Gordon Last election 32 seats 45 seats Seats won 46 seats 37 seats Seat change 14 8 Percentage 48.92% 43.03 Swing 15.61 2.88
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election Charles Wade Liberal Reform Elected Premier James McGowen Labor

Men and women voters and polling booths, 1910.

This was the first NSW election using a second ballot system. All previous elections had used a first past the post voting system, where a candidate might be elected with less than 50% of the vote especially where two or more similar candidates split the vote.^[a] There were 3 districts that required a second ballot, at Durham and St Leonards where the second round ballot was won by the leading candidate and at Hastings and Macleay where support from the Labour Party saw the independent overtake the sitting Liberal Reform member to take the seat.

The election saw the Labor Electoral League form government for the first time, winning 46 of the 90 seats in the Assembly.

Key dates

Date	Event
14 September 1910	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[1]
23 September 1910	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
14 October 1910	Polling day.
15 November 1910	Opening of 22nd Parliament.

Results

See also: Results of the 1910 New South Wales state election

New South Wales state election, 14 October 1910[1] Legislative Assembly << 1907–1913 >>
Enrolled voters		867,695
Votes cast		572,500		Turnout	69.05	+2.33
Informal votes		10,514		Informal	1.80	−1.07
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labour	280,056	48.92	+15.61	46	+14
	Liberal Reform	246,360	43.03	−2.88	37	−8
	Independent Liberal	33,529	5.86	+0.15	6	+2
	Independent Labour	4,527	0.79	+0.79	0	0
	Farmers and Settlers	4,039	0.71	+0.71	0	0
	Independent	3,989	0.70	−9.45	1	−3
	Former Progressive	0	0.00	−4.75	0	−5
Total		572,500			90

Popular vote Labor   48.92% Liberal Reform   43.03% Ind. Liberal   5.86% Independent   0.70% Others   1.49% Parliamentary seats Labor   46 Liberal Reform   37 Ind. Liberal   6 Independent   1

Changing seats

Seats changing hands
Seat	1907				Swing [b]	1910
	Party		Member	Margin [c]		Margin [c]	Member	Party
Belmore		Former Progressive	Edward O'Sullivan [d]	39.4	N/A	1.4	Patrick Minahan	Labor
Bingara		Liberal Reform	Samuel Moore	23.8	12.2	0.6	George McDonald	Labor
Darling Harbour		Independent	John Norton [e]	11.1	N/A	30.8	John Cochran	Labor
The Glebe		Liberal Reform	James Hogue	7.8	N/A	1.6	Tom Keegan	Labor
Hastings and Macleay		Liberal Reform	Robert Davidson	7.0	N/A	9.8	Henry Morton	Independent
King		Liberal Reform	Ernest Broughton [f]	2.8	12.7	9.9	James Morrish	Labor
The Macquarie		Liberal Reform	Charles Barton [f]	1.0	6.5	5.5	Thomas Thrower	Labor
Marrickville		Liberal Reform	Richard McCoy [f]	29.1	40.1	11.0	Thomas Crawford	Labor
Mudgee		Liberal Reform	Robert Jones	11.1	17.6	6.4	Bill Dunn	Labor
The Namoi		Independent Liberal	Albert Collins [f]	7.8	N/A	20.6	George Black	Labor
Newcastle		Liberal Reform	Owen Gilbert	14.8	24.5	9.8	Arthur Gardiner	Labor
Paddington		Liberal Reform	Charles Oakes	13.1	17.3	4.2	John Osborne	Labor
Queanbeyan		Liberal Reform	Granville Ryrie [g]	13.6	13.6	2.0	John Cusack	Labor
St Leonards		Independent	Edward Clark [h]	28.6	N/A	14.6	Arthur Cocks	Liberal Reform
Surry Hills		Liberal Reform	Sir James Graham	23.4	23.4	21.4	Henry Hoyle	Labor
Members changing party
Seat	1907				Swing [b]	1910
	Party		Member	Margin [c]		Margin [c]	Member	Party
Albury		Former Progressive	Gordon McLaurin	23.0	-6.0	11.0	Gordon McLaurin	Independent Liberal
Canterbury		Independent Liberal	Varney Parkes	15.5	+12.7	11.4	Varney Parkes	Liberal Reform
Durham		Independent Liberal	William Brown	1.2	-0.1	1.0	William Brown	Liberal Reform
Gloucester		Independent	Richard Price	8.3	+12.6	37.8	Richard Price	Liberal Reform
Maitland		Liberal Reform	John Gillies	65.4	-18.8	27.8	John Gillies	Independent Liberal
Phillip		Independent	Richard Meagher	13.9	+33.5	53.2	Richard Meagher	Labor
Raleigh		Former Progressive	George Briner	37.1	+14.0	56.6	George Briner	Independent Liberal
Randwick		Liberal Reform	David Storey	52.0	-16.6	18.8	David Storey	Independent Liberal
Tamworth		Former Progressive	Robert Levien	23.5	+0.9	21.8	Robert Levien	Independent Liberal
Waverley		Independent Liberal	James Macarthur-Onslow	7.5	+4.0	14.9	James Macarthur-Onslow	Liberal Reform
Wynyard		Former Progressive	Robert Donaldson	15.6	-6.8	2.0	Robert Donaldson	Independent Liberal

The Upper Hunter had been won by William Fleming (Liberal Reform) at the 1907 election, however he resigned to contest the seat of New England at the 1910 federal election. The by-election in April 1910 was won by William Ashford (Labor) however Henry Willis regained the seat for Liberal Reform at the general election.

See also

• Candidates of the 1910 New South Wales state election
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1910–1913

Notes

1. For example Leichhardt at the 1907 election where the Liberal vote was split between the endorsed candidate and an independent Liberal, with Labor taking the seat with 44.2% of the vote.
2. Swing is calculated using the Butler method, being the average of the change in votes of the successful party in 1907 and the successful party in 1910. Where both parties did not contest both elections, the swing is N/A
3. Margin is calculated as the difference in vote percentage between the successful party and the second party.
4. Edward O'Sullivan had won Belmore at the 1907 election as a Former Progressive, however he joined the Labor Party in 1909 and died in April 1910. The by-election in May 1910 was won by Patrick Minahan (Labor) who retained the seat at the 1910 general election.
5. John Norton had won Darling Harbour at the 1907 election, however he resigned to stand as a Senator for NSW at the 1910 federal election. The by-election in April 1910 was won by John Cochran (Labor) who retained the seat at the 1910 general election.
6. Did not stand for re-election
7. Granville Ryrie had won Queanbeyan at the 1907 election, however he resigned to contest the seat of Werriwa at the 1910 federal election. The by-election in April 1910 was won by John Cusack (Labor) who retained the seat at the 1910 general election.
8. Edward Clark was defeated in the first round of voting