1991 Shepparton state by-election

The 1991 Shepparton state by-election was held on 19 October 1991 to elect the member for Shepparton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, following the resignation of Nationals MP Peter Ross-Edwards.^[1]

1991 Shepparton state by-election

← 1988 19 October 1991 1992 →
Electoral district of Shepparton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Registered	32,125
Turnout	87.1% ( 6.9)
First party Second party Third party   IND IND Candidate Don Kilgour Valerie McDougall Frank Purcell Party National Independent Ind. Labor First preference vote 14,132 10,600 2,662 Percentage 51.6% 38.7% 9.7% Swing 3.1 38.7 9.7
MP before election John Ellis National Elected MP Don Kilgour National

Ross-Edwards had represented Shepparton since the seat was re-established in 1967, and served as the leader of the Victorian National Party (previously known as the Country Party) from 1970 until 1988.^[2]

Don Kilgour retained the seat for the Nationals, winning 51.6% of first preference votes.^[3] The Labor Party and the Liberal Party, which received 26.6% and 18.7% of the vote respectively at the 1988 state election, did not contest the by-election.^[4]

Candidates

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.^[5]

Party		Candidate	Background
	National	Don Kilgour	Radio announcer, sports commentator and businessman[6]
	Independent Labor	Frank Purcell	Member of the Shepparton branch of the Labor Party[7]
	Independent	Valerie McDougall	Former finance journalist at The Age[8][9]

Results

1991 Shepparton state by-election^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Don Kilgour	14,132	51.6	−3.1
	Independent	Valerie McDougall	10,600	38.7	+38.7
	Independent Labor	Frank Purcell	2,662	9.7	+9.7
Total formal votes			27,394	97.9	+0.3
Informal votes			598	2.1	−0.3
Turnout			27,992	87.1	−6.9
	National hold		Swing	N/A

See also

• Electoral results for the district of Shepparton
• List of Victorian state by-elections