Western Australian state election, 1959

Western Australian state election, 1959

21 March 1959 (1959-03-21)

All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly   First party Second party   Leader David Brand Albert Hawke Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 1 March 1957 3 July 1951 Leader's seat Greenough Northam Last election 19 seats 29 seats Seats won 25 seats 23 seats Seat change 6 6 Percentage 44.03% 44.92% Swing 5.65 4.78

Premier before election Albert Hawke Labor Resulting Premier David Brand Liberal/Country coalition

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 21 March 1959 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The result was a hung parliament—the two-term Labor government, led by Premier Bert Hawke, was defeated with an average swing against it of about 7 per cent, but the Liberal-Country Party coalition, led by Opposition Leader David Brand, won exactly half of the seats, and needed the support of at least one of the two Independent Liberal members to obtain a majority in the Assembly. The situation remained precarious throughout the term—while Bill Grayden joined the LCL the following year, giving the Coalition a one-seat majority, the other Independent Liberal, Edward Oldfield, joined the Labor Party.

Results

¹ 362,629 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 11 seats (22% of the total) were uncontested—2 Labor seats (three less than 1956) representing 16,115 enrolled voters, 5 LCL seats (the same as 1956) representing 33,484 enrolled voters, and 4 Country seats (two less than 1956) representing 20,434 enrolled voters.

See also

• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1956–1959
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1959–1962

References

Elections and referendums in Western Australia
General elections	1890 1894 1897 1901 1904 1905 1908 1911 1914 1917 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1936 1939 1943 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1993 1996 2001 2005 2008 2013 2017 by-elections
Upper House Elections	1894 1896 1897 1898 1900 (Apr) 1900 (Sep) 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962
Referendums	1900 1911 1921 1925 1933 1950 1975 1984 1992 2005 2009