1919 Tasmanian state election

The 1919 Tasmanian state election was held on 31 May 1919 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.

1919 Tasmanian state election

← 1916 31 May 1919 1922 →
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Walter Lee Joseph Lyons Party Nationalist Labor Leader since September 1915 November 1916 Leader's seat Wilmot Wilmot Last election 15 seats 14 seats Seats won 16 seats 13 seats Seat change 1 1 Percentage 55.20% 41.44% Swing 6.97 7.03
Results of the election
Premier before election Walter Lee Nationalist Elected Premier Walter Lee Nationalist

By the 1919 election, the Liberal Party had regrouped and been renamed as the Nationalist Party. The Premier of Tasmania, Walter Lee, had led the party for a relatively untroubled three years, despite the Liberals' one-seat majority over Labor and the uncertainty of World War I.^[2]

The Labor Party in Tasmania went into the 1919 election led by Joseph Lyons. Lee led the Nationalist Party to victory, with a 14% margin over Labor, although they only won 16 of the 30 seats in the House of Assembly. Independent Joshua Whitsitt retained his seat.

Results

Main article: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1919

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Nationalist	37,677	55.20	6.97	16	1
	Labor	28,286	41.44	7.03	13	1
	Independents	2,289	3.35	0.05	1
Total		68,252	100.00	–	30	–
Valid votes		68,252	96.04
Invalid/blank votes		2,814	3.96	1.70
Total votes		71,066	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		107,541	66.08	7.52

Popular vote Nationalist   55.20% Labor   41.44% Independents   3.35%

Seats Nationalist   53.33% Labor   43.33% Independents   3.33%

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

	Bass	Darwin	Denison	Franklin	Wilmot
Labor Party	37.9%	47.5%	44.3%	44.9%	30.2%
Nationalist	62.1%	37.2%	55.7%	52.0%	69.8%
Other	–	15.3%	–	3.2%	–

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats won Bass             Darwin             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot

Labor   Nationalist   Independent

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1919–1922
• Candidates of the 1919 Tasmanian state election

References

1. House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
2. Scott Bennett, Lee, Sir Walter Henry (1874 - 1963), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, 1986, pp 52-53.

External links

• Assembly Election Results, 1919, Parliament of Tasmania.
• Report on General Election, 1916, Tasmanian Electoral Commission, 29 October 1919.