1955 Tasmanian state election

The 1955 Tasmanian state election was held on 19 February 1955 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.

1955 Tasmanian state election

← 1950 19 February 1955 1956 →
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Robert Cosgrove Rex Townley Party Labor Liberal Leader since 25 February 1948 6 February 1950 Leader's seat Denison Denison Last election 15 seats 14 seats Seats won 15 seats 15 seats Seat change 0 1 Percentage 52.63% 45.35% Swing 4.00 2.23
Results of the election
Premier before election Robert Cosgrove Labor Resulting Premier Robert Cosgrove Labor

The incumbent Labor government, led by Robert Cosgrove, had been in office continuously since 1934, although had not held a majority since 1946. It was looking to win another term in minority government against the opposition Liberal Party, on this occasion led by Rex Townley.

The election resulted in a parliamentary deadlock, with both the Labor and Liberal parties winning 15 seats in the 30 seat assembly.

The 1955 election also saw the first women elected to the House of Assembly: Mabel Miller for Franklin and Amelia Best for Wilmot, both members of the Liberal Party.^[2]

Background and deadlock provisions

The 1955 election was the first to be held since the passage of a 1954 amendment to the constitution in relation to political deadlocks. The amendment provided that, in the event of a deadlock in the 30-member House of Assembly, an Electoral Commission would be convened to determine a "majority party" and "minority party" on the basis of primary votes. The minority party would then have the right to nominate a member as Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, thereby giving the majority party a working majority of one MP. If the minority party did not nominate a speaker, the majority party would be entitled to nominate one of its own members as speaker and also to be awarded a supplementary member of parliament, again giving the majority party a working majority on the speaker's casting vote.^[3]

Results

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1955

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	82,362	52.63	+4.00	15
	Liberal	70,959	45.35	-2.23	15	1
	Independents	3,158	2.02	-1.72	0	1
Total		156,479	100.00	–	30	–
Valid votes		156,479	96.21
Invalid/blank votes		6,158	3.79	-0.69
Total votes		162,637	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		173,165	93.92	-0.60

Popular vote Labor   52.63% Liberal   45.35% Independents   2.02%

Seats Labor   50.00% Liberal   50.00%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

	Bass	Braddon	Denison	Franklin	Wilmot
Labor Party	53.5%	53.3%	50.8%	49.9%	55.7%
Liberal Party	46.0%	46.7%	42.5%	46.5%	44.3%
Other	0.5%	—	6.7%	3.5%	—

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats won Bass             Darwin             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot

Labor   Liberal

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1955–1956
• Candidates of the 1955 Tasmanian state election