1922 New South Wales state election

The 1922 New South Wales state election was held on 25 March 1922. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 26th New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in multiple member constituencies using the Hare Clark single transferable vote. The 25th parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 17 February 1922 by the Governor, Sir Walter Edward Davidson, on the advice of the Premier James Dooley.^[1][2][3]

1922 New South Wales state election

← 1920 25 March 1922 (1922-03-25) 1925 →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader George Fuller James Dooley Party Nationalist Labor Leader since 14 April 1920 5 October 1921 Leader's seat Wollondilly Bathurst Last election 28 seats 43 seats Seats won 41 seats 36 seats Seat change 13 7 Percentage 43.17% 38.48% Swing 13.25 4.60
Results of the election
Premier before election James Dooley Labor Elected Premier George Fuller Nationalist/Progressive coalition

Key dates

Date	Event
17 February 1922	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
25 February 1922	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
25 March 1922	Polling day.
13 April 1922	Second Fuller ministry sworn in
19 April 1922	Writs returned.
26 April 1922	Opening of 25th Parliament.

Results

See also: Results of the 1922 New South Wales state election

1922 New South Wales state election [1] Legislative Assembly << 1920–1925 >>
Enrolled voters		1,251,023
Votes cast		875,464		Turnout	70.00	+13.81
Informal votes		31,771		Informal	3.63	−6.07
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Nationalist	364,211	43.17	+13.25	41	+13
	Labor	324,677	38.48	−4.60	36	−7
	Progressive	93,488	11.08	−4.04	9	−6
	Independent	31,880	3.78	−1.07	1	0
	Democratic	14,354	1.70	−0.69	1	+1
	Independent Labor	7,438	0.88	+0.88	0
	Ind. Coalitionist	5,727	0.68	+0.68	1	+1
	Industrial Labor	1,674	0.20	+0.20	0
	Soldier's Nationalist	244	0.03	+0.03	0
Total		843,693			90

Results of 1922

Popular vote Nationalist   43.17% Labor   38.48% Progressive   11.05% Independent   4.66% Democratic   1.70% Ind. Coalitionist   0.71% Others   0.20% Parliamentary seats Nationalist   41 Labor   36 Progressive   9 Independent   2 Democratic   2 Ind. Coalitionist   1

Retiring members

This section is an excerpt from Candidates of the 1922 New South Wales state election § Retiring Members.[edit]

Labor

• Arthur Buckley MLA (Sydney)
• John Estell MLA (Newcastle) — appointed to the Legislative Council

Nationalist

• James Macarthur-Onslow MLA (Eastern Suburbs) — elected as Progressive

Changing seats

Seats changing hands
Seat	1920				Swing [a]	1922
	Party		Member	±		±	Member	Party
Balmain		Labor	John Doyle	-6.3	+12.6	+18.8	Robert Stopford	Nationalist
Bathurst			Valentine Johnston	-6.4	+9.1	+11.7	Charles Rosenthal
Byron			Tom Swiney	+3.0	+9.5	+21.9	William Missingham	Progressive
Eastern Suburbs		Progressive	James MacArthur-Onslow	-5.6	+8.4	+11.1	Hyman Goldstein	Nationalist
		Labor	Daniel Dwyer	-12.0	+11.5	+10.9	Cyril Fallon	Democratic
Newcastle		Independent	Arthur Gardiner	-8.8	+17.0	+25.2	Walter Skelton	Independent
North Shore		Ind. Nationalist	Alfred Reid	+0.4	+5.5	+11.3	William Fell	Ind. Coalitionist
Oxley		Progressive	Richard Price	-10.5	+11.5	+12.4	Theodore Hill	Nationalist
Parramatta		Labor	Bill Ely	-8.1	+11.6	+15.0	Thomas Morrow
Sturt		Socialist Labor	Percy Brookfield  [b]	NA	NA	+0.7	Jabez Wright	Labor
Sydney		Labor	Michael Burke	+1.0	+3.2	+7.3	Joseph Jackson	Nationalist
Wammerawa			Joseph Clark	-9.0	+8.7	+8.3	Harold Thorby	Progressive
Wollondilly			John Cleary	-9.2	+8.3	+7.3	Mark Morton	Nationalist
Members changing party
Seat	1920				±	1922
	Party		Member	%		%	Member	Party
Byron		Progressive	Stephen Perdriau				Stephen Perdriau	Nationalist
Maitland			Walter Bennett				Walter Bennett
Namoi			Walter Wearne				Walter Wearne
Ryde		Ind. Nationalist	Edward Loxton				Edward Loxton
		Progressive	Thomas Bavin				Thomas Bavin
St George			Thomas Ley				Thomas Ley
Wammerawa		Nationalist	William Ashford				William Ashford [c]	Independent
Western Suburbs		Progressive	James Wilson				James Wilson	Nationalist

See also

• Candidates of the 1922 New South Wales state election
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1922–1925

Notes

1. Swing is calculated using the Butler method, being the average of the winning party percentage-point gain and the losing party percentage-point loss. NA is used where one of the parties did not contest both elections.
2. The member for Sturt Percy Brookfield was murdered while trying to disarm a deranged man at Riverton on 22 March 1921. Which party interest Brookfield represented was not straightforward. He had been elected under the banner of the Socialist Labor Party at the 1920 election for Sturt, however he formed a new Industrial Labor Party in February 1921, shortly before his death.^[4] There was debate concerning who should be appointed. The Industrial Labor Party said that John O'Reilly should be appointed, while The Sydney Morning Herald stated that Thomas Hynes had the greater number of primary votes at the 1920 election and thus he should be appointed.^[5] The nomination had to come from the recognised party leader according to votes on any censure motion and Labor leader and Premier John Storey nominated Jabez Wright who took his seat on 30 August 1921.^[6]
3. The returning officer declared that William Ashford had been re-elected. The result was overturned by the Elections and Qualifications Committee who declared that Joseph Clark had been elected instead.^[7]