1946 Tasmanian state election

The 1946 Tasmanian state election was held on 23 November 1946 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.

1946 Tasmanian state election

← 1941 23 November 1946 1948 →
All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Robert Cosgrove Neil Campbell Party Labor Liberal Leader since 18 December 1939 February 1945 Leader's seat Denison Wilmot Last election 20 seats 10 seats Seats won 16 seats 12 seats Seat change 4 2 Percentage 50.97% 34.25% Swing 11.63 2.33
Results of the election
Premier before election Robert Cosgrove Labor Elected Premier Robert Cosgrove Labor

Incumbent Premier Robert Cosgrove continued to lead the Labor Party into the 1946 election. The Nationalist Party had reformed into the modern Liberal Party, and was led by Neil Campbell. This was Tasmania's first election since the end of World War II.

Labor won a majority in the election, although the party's vote was significantly reduced. Cosgrove dominated the government throughout Tasmania's post-war recovery.^[2]

Results

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1946

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	65,843	51.00	11.63	16	4
	Liberal	44,158	34.20	2.33	12	2
	Ind. Lib.[a]	11,339	8.78	8.78	1	1
	Independents	7,765	6.01	5.18	1	1
Total		129,105	100.00	–	30	–
Valid votes		129,105	89.91
Invalid/blank votes		14,484	10.09	5.09
Total votes		143,589	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		157,756	91.02	0.16

Popular vote Labor   50.97% Liberal   34.25% Independents   14.79%

Seats Labor   53.33% Liberal   40.00% Independents   6.67%

^a Several Nationalists did not join the new Liberal Party and ran as independents. Rex Townley was elected in Denison.

Distribution of votes

Primary vote by division

	Bass	Darwin	Denison	Franklin	Wilmot
Labor Party	57.9%	49.5%	45.3%	51.5%	51.2%
Liberal Party	31.9%	47.7%	19.4%	35.2%	36.3%
Other	10.3%	2.9%	35.4%	13.3%	12.5%

Distribution of seats

Electorate Seats won Bass             Darwin             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot

Labor   Liberal   Independent

See also

• Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1946–1948
• Candidates of the 1946 Tasmanian state election

References

1. House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
2. W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.

External links

• Assembly Election Results, 1946, Parliament of Tasmania.
• Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1947, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.