List of Western Australian Legislative Assembly elections

This article provides a summary of results for elections to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

, the lower house

Lower house

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...

in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

's bicameral state

States and territories of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...

legislative body, the Parliament of Western Australia

Parliament of Western Australia

The Parliament of Western Australia consists of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly . The Parliament sits at Parliament House in Harvest Terrace, Perth....

, which came into being in 1890 when Western Australia achieved responsible self-government. The number of seats has increased over time, from 30 at its first election, to the current total of 57 seats. Western Australian politics were initially non-partisan, with individual Members of Parliament choosing to align either with the Government or the Opposition. This began to change in the 1901 election with the election of six Labor

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

members, and then with Labor attaining outright victory in the 1904 election. By 1911, a rival party to Labor had emerged in the centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

Liberal Party of Western Australia, which many of the former independents had joined. This entity evolved into the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

and eventually into the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

in 1944.

The chart below shows the information graphically, with the most recent results on the right. It shows the popularity in terms of seats won, of the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

(red) and the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

and its predecessors (mid-blue) in the first half of the 20th century, as well as the emergence of the Country Party

National Party of Western Australia

The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....

(green) in 1914, with whom the Nationalists and later the Liberals formed a coalition in order to form government. Two distinct periods were characterised by one party or coalition's dominance—the Labor Party won six of the seven elections between 1924 and 1947, and the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Australia

(dark blue) in coalition with the Country Party won seven of the eight elections between 1959 and 1983. Occasional internal splits within the Country Party, now known as the Nationals, are also shown on the chart in differing shades of green.

Party colour key
	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...		Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
	Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime... ; Liberal (1911–17)		National Labor Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
	Ministerialist		National; National Country; Country
	Oppositionist		National; National Country; Country
	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...		Other

Summary of results

The table below shows the total number of seats won by the major political parties at each election. The totals of the winning party or coalition are shown in bold, while other parties in government are shown in bold italic. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

Election	Date	Total seats	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	Country/ National National Party of Western Australia The National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....	Nat. Lab. National Labor Party The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...	Independent	Other Parties
Election	Date	Total seats
38th Western Australian state election, 2008 A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...	6 September 2008	59	28	24		4		3
37th Western Australian state election, 2005 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 26 February 2005 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...	26 February 2005	57	32	18		5		2
36th Western Australian state election, 2001 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 10 February 2001 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...	10 February 2001	57	32	16		5		4
35th Western Australian state election, 1996 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 December 1996 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...	14 December 1996	57	19	29		6		3
34th Western Australian state election, 1993 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 6 February 1993 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...	6 February 1993	57	24	26		6		1
33rd Western Australian state election, 1989 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 4 February 1989 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...	4 February 1989	57	31	20		6
32nd Western Australian state election, 1986 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 8 February 1986 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council...	8 February 1986	57	32	19		6
31st Western Australian state election, 1983 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1983 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 18 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council....	19 February 1983	57	32	20		3			2	National
30th Western Australian state election, 1980 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 23 February 1980 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 16 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council...	23 February 1980	55	23	26		3			3	National
29th Western Australian state election, 1977 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1977 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council...	19 February 1977	55	22	27		6
28th Western Australian state election, 1974 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 30 March 1974 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council...	30 March 1974	51	22	23		6
27th Western Australian state election, 1971 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 20 February 1971 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council...	20 February 1971	51	26	17		8
26th Western Australian state election, 1968 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 23 March 1968 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council...	23 March 1968	51	23	19		9
25th Western Australian state election, 1965 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 20 February 1965 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council...	20 February 1965	50	21	21		8
24th Western Australian state election, 1962 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 31 March 1962 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir David Brand, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bert Hawke.The election...	31 March 1962	50	24	18		8
23rd Western Australian state election, 1959 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...	21 March 1959	50	23	17		8		2
22nd	7 April 1956	50	29	11		8		2
21st Western Australian state election, 1953 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 February 1953 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The two-term Liberal-Country Party coalition government, led by Premier Sir Ross McLarty, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Bert Hawke.The election...	14 February 1953	50	26	15		9
20th	25 March 1950	50	23	15		9		3
19th Western Australian state election, 1947 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 15 March 1947 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The result was a hung parliament—the four-term Labor government, led by Premier Frank Wise, was defeated with a swing of approximately 7%, but the Liberal-Country Party...	15 March 1947	50	23	13		12		2
18th Western Australian state election, 1943 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 20 November 1943 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier John Willcock, won a fourth term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Arthur Watts and Robert...	20 November 1943	50	30		7	10		3
17th Western Australian state election, 1939 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 18 March 1939 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier John Willcock, won a third term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Charles Latham and Robert Ross...	18 March 1939	50	27		7	12		4
16th Western Australian state election, 1936 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 15 February 1936 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Philip Collier, won a second term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Charles Latham and Norbert...	15 February 1936	50	26		8	13		3
15th Western Australian state election, 1933 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 8 April 1933 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The one-term Nationalist-Country coalition government, led by Premier Sir James Mitchell, was defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Philip Collier.The election...	8 April 1933	50	30		8	12
14th	26 March 1930	50	23		16	10		1
13th	26 March 1927	50	27		16	7
12th	22 March 1924	50	27		9		1		7 6	MCP ECP
11th	12 March 1921	50	16		10	16	6	2
10th Western Australian state election, 1917 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 29 September 1917 to elect 50 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Nationalist-Country-National Labor coalition, led by Premier Sir Henry Lefroy, retained government against the Labor Party led by Opposition Leader...	29 September 1917	50	15		16	12	6	1
9th Western Australian state election, 1914 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 21 October 1914 to elect 50 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Labor party, led by Premier John Scaddan, retained government against the opposition conservative Liberal Party led by Opposition Leader Frank Wilson,...	21 October 1914	50	26		16	8
8th Western Australian state election, 1911 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 3 October 1911 to elect 50 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Labor party, led by Opposition Leader John Scaddan, defeated the conservative Ministerialist government led by Premier Frank Wilson...	3 October 1911	50	34		16
7th	11 September 1908	50	22		28
6th	27 October 1905	50	15		35
5th	28 June 1904	50	22		19			9

Elections prior to political parties

Until the 1904 election, most candidates did not belong to political parties. However, some candidates declared their support for the administration of the time, while others declared their opposition to it. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

Election	Date	Seats	Government	Opposition	Independent	Labor
4th Western Australian state election, 1901 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 24 April 1901 to elect 50 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly...	April 1901	50	19	20	5	6
3rd Western Australian state election, 1897 Elections were held in the state of Western Australia between 27 April and 26 May 1897 to elect 44 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Ministerialist group led by John Forrest won a third term in office as a result of the elections...	May 1897	44	29	8	7
2nd	June 1894	33	19	13	1
1st	December 1890	30			30

Interpretation issues

Two features of the Western Australian electoral system are worthy of note in interpreting election results. The first is that until the 1974 election

Western Australian state election, 1974

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 30 March 1974 to elect all 51 members to the Legislative Assembly and 15 members to the 30-seat Legislative Council...

, many seats in both houses were uncontested

Walkover

In British English, a walkover or W.O. is the awarding of a victory to a contestant because there are no other contestants, or because the other contestants have been disqualified or have forfeited. The term can apply in sport, but can also apply to elections...

—usually more than one-quarter of all seats on offer. Since 1974, only three seats have been uncontested—that being the seats of Collie and East Melville

Electoral district of East Melville

East Melville was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1962 to 1989.The district was based in the inner southern suburbs of Perth. It was a safe Liberal Party seat.-History:...

in the 1980 election

Western Australian state election, 1980

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 23 February 1980 to elect all 55 members to the Legislative Assembly and 16 members to the 32-seat Legislative Council...

, when the rival party's candidates missed the nomination deadline and hence could not stand, and the seat of Narrogin

Electoral district of Narrogin

Narrogin was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1950 to 1989.The district was based around the town of Narrogin in the southern part of the state. The seat was won on every occasion by the National Party.-Members:...

in the 1983 election

Western Australian state election, 1983

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 19 February 1983 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 18 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council....

.

The second feature is malapportionment, which until 2008 was a significant feature of the Western Australian political landscape. Seats in metropolitan and rural areas did not contain the same number of electors—as at 30 September 2007, a Member of the Legislative Assembly represented either 28,519 metropolitan voters within the Metropolitan Region Scheme

Metropolitan Region Scheme

The Metropolitan Region Scheme is the legal land plan covering urban planning throughout the Perth Metropolitan Region. It classifies land into broad zones and reservations and is administered by the Western Australian Planning Commission....

area, or 14,551 country voters. This was believed to disproportionately favour the Nationals in terms of parliamentary representation. Reforms enacted in 2005 which took effect at the 2008 election

Western Australian state election, 2008

A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...

produced an average district enrolment of 21,350, which applied to all but five of the 59 districts created in the 2007 redistribution. An allowance remained for particularly large districts—those of 100000 square kilometres (38,610.2 sq mi) or more, located in the north and east of the State—in the form of a Large District Allowance.

Summary of results

Elections prior to political parties

Interpretation issues

See also