1912 Tasmanian state election

The 1912 Tasmanian state election was held on Tuesday, 30 April 1912 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system^[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

1912 Tasmanian state election

← 1909 30 April 1912 1913 →
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Elliott Lewis John Earle Party Liberal Labor Leader since 1909 1906 Leader's seat Denison Franklin Last election 18 seats 12 seats Seats won 16 seats 14 seats Seat change 2 2 Percentage 54.48% 45.54% Swing 3.87 6.58
Results of the election
Premier before election Elliott Lewis Liberal Elected Premier Elliott Lewis Liberal

Elliott Lewis was elected as an Anti-Socialist at the 1909 election, and was Premier of Tasmania from 27 October 1909. He was urged by his predecessor, John Evans (premier from 11 July 1904 to 19 June 1909), to organise anti-Labor forces against a resurgent Labor Party (which won 12 seats at the 1909 election) and to support the formation of the Tasmanian Liberal League (not directly related to the modern Liberal Party).^[2]

Lewis was the incumbent Premier at the 1912 election, and John Earle was Labor Party leader. The election saw an increase in Labor seats from 12 to 14, just short of a House of Assembly majority. The Liberal Party won the election, with a two-seat majority. Despite leading the Liberals to victory, Lewis was criticised within the party, and resigned the leadership to Albert Solomon on 14 June the same year.^[2]

Key dates

Date	Event
23 March 1912	New electoral rolls came into force.[3]
4 April 1912	The Parliament was dissolved.[4]
30 April 1912	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
14 June 1912	Elliott Lewis resigned, succeeded by Albert Solomon.
2 July 1912	Parliament was summoned for business.[5]

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Liberal	40,252	54.48	+3.87	16	2
	Labor	33,634	45.52	+6.58	14	2
Total		73,886	100.00	–	30	–
Valid votes		73,886	97.15
Invalid/blank votes		2,166	2.85	-0.01
Total votes		76,052	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		103,513	73.47	+20.85

Popular vote Liberal   54.48% Labor   45.52%

Seats Liberal   53.33% Labor   46.67%

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats won Bass             Darwin             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot

Labor   Liberal

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1912–1913
• Candidates of the 1912 Tasmanian state election