1938 New South Wales state election

The 1938 New South Wales state election was held on 26 March 1938. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 32nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting.

1938 New South Wales state election

← 1935 26 March 1938 (1938-03-26) 1941 →
All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 46 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bertram Stevens Jack Lang Michael Bruxner Party United Australia Labor Country Leader since 5 April 1932 31 July 1923 27 April 1932 Leader's seat Croydon Auburn Tenterfield Last election 38 seats 29 seats 23 seats Seats won 37 28 22 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 424,275 412,063 164,045 Percentage 35.86% 34.82% 13.86% Swing 2.76 7.60 0.94%
Results by division for the Legislative Assembly, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Premier before election Bertram Stevens UAP/Country coalition Elected Premier Bertram Stevens UAP/Country coalition

The result of the election was:

• United Australia Party 37 seats
• Country Party 22 seats
• Australian Labor Party 28 seats
• Industrial Labor Party 2 seats
• Independent 1 seat.

The UAP/Country Party coalition of Bertram Stevens and Michael Bruxner had a majority of 28 (down 2). Stevens continued as Premier until 5 August 1939 when he resigned after being censured by the Legislative Assembly, with 10 United Australia members crossing the floor. He was replaced as Premier by Alexander Mair.

Lang Labor reconciled with Labor in February 1936,^[1] however Labor's primary vote continued to decline.^[2] Labor's continued poor showing in this election was seen as evidence of Jack Lang's inability to appeal to the middle ground of the electorate. As a result, moves to dispose Lang intensified.^{[citation needed]} The Industrial Labor Party led by Lang rival Bob Heffron was re-absorbed into the Labor on 26 August 1939 and Lang was replaced as party leader by William McKell on 5 September 1939.^[1]

During this parliament Labor and Industrial Labor each won 2 by-elections from the United Australia Party.^[3] This reduced the Government's majority to 20 when the parliament was dissolved.

Key dates

Date	Event
24 February 1938	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
4 March 1938	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
26 March 1938	Polling day.
13 April 1938	Third Stevens–Bruxner ministry sworn in.
26 April 1938	The writs were returned and the results formally declared.
12 April 1938	Opening of 32nd Parliament.

Results

Main article: Results of the 1938 New South Wales state election

New South Wales state election, 26 March 1938 Legislative Assembly << 1935–1941 >>
Enrolled voters		1,607,833[a]
Votes cast		1,183,257		Turnout	95.79	–0.27
Informal votes		32,237		Informal	2.65	–0.39
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	United Australia	424,275	35.86	+2.76	37	– 1
	Labor	412,063	34.82	–7.60	28	–1
	Country	164,045	13.86	+0.94	22	–1
	Industrial Labor	43,735	3.70	+3.70	2	+2
	Communist	10,386	0.88	–0.6	0	±0
	Independents	128,753	10.88	+6.4	1	+1
Total		1,183,257			90

Popular vote United   35.86% Labor   34.82% Country   13.86% Industrial Labor   3.7% Independents   6.4% Parliamentary seats United   37 Labor   28 Country   22 Industrial Labor   2 Independents   1

Retiring members

This section is an excerpt from Candidates of the 1938 New South Wales state election § Retiring members.[edit]

United Australia

• John Ness (Dulwich Hill)

Country

• Ernest Buttenshaw (Lachlan)
• Hugh Main (Temora)

Independent

• Harold Mason (Woollahra)

Changing seats

Seats changing hands
Seat	1935			1938
	Party		Member	Member	Party
Botany		Labor	Bob Heffron	Bob Heffron [b]	Industrial Labor
Corowa		Country	Richard Ball [c]	Christopher Lethbridge	Independent
Granville		United Australia	Claude Fleck	Bill Lamb	Labor
Marrickville		Labor	Carlo Lazzarini	Carlo Lazzarini [b]	Industrial Labor

The member for Woollahra, Sir Daniel Levy (United Australia), died in 1937. The resulting by-election was won by Harold Mason (Ind. United Australia) however he did not contest the election and the seat was regained by Vernon Treatt (United Australia).

See also

• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1938–1941
• Candidates of the 1938 New South Wales state election

Notes

1. A total of 19 electorates (six UAP, three Country, and ten Labor) were uncontested, representing 338,853 voters.^[2]
2. Bob Heffron (Botany) and Carlo Lazzarini (Marrickville) were expelled from Labor in 1936 and formed the Industrial Labor Party.
3. Richard Ball (Country) died and Christopher Lethbridge (Independent) won the resulting by-election, retaining the seat at this election.