Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Assembly election
Election of 16 October 1885
Government in office and parliamentary support before and after the election
Government in office at election
Government in office after election
Enrolment and voting
New South Wales, Legislative Assembly votes and seats won
Election held on 16 October 1885
Criteria for the inclusion of parties in this table are set out in the Glossary under 'listed party'
| Party Name | First preference vote n | First preference vote share % | Change from previous election % | Seats won n | Uncontested seats held n | Seat share % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents (No disciplined party groupings) | 237,899 | 100.00 | 0.00 | 122 | 8 | 100.00 |
| Votes for other than listed parties | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| Totals | 237,899 | 100.00 | 122 | 8 | 100.00 |
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Notes
Election dates: Elections were held over the period from 16 to 31 October 1885.
Premier in office at election: Dibbs had replaced Stuart as premier on 7 October 1885; for details and references, see the entries for this premier in the 'Governments' section of this website.
Premier after election: The result of the election was unclear. Dibbs narrowly survived a confidence motion when parliament met but resigned soon after because he was unable to secure a working majority in the Legislative Assembly. Robertson was then commissioned as premier on 22 December 1885; for details and references, see the entries for these premiers in the 'Governments' section of this website; see also after election.
Electoral system: Electoral legislation had been passed in 1880 which allowed extra members to be added to electoral districts as their population grew; see Clune and Griffith, p. 34, (see 'Sources', below). At this election, the Assembly had 122 members chosen from 37 single member electoral districts, 24 two-member districts, 7 three-member districts, and 4 four-member districts (72 electoral districts in total). For information on the electoral system established by the 1858 Electoral Act, much of which applied to this election, see the notes to the 1859 New South Wales Legislative Assembly election and, for a description of the style of electioneering, see the Glossary entry elections in New South Wales, 1859 to 1887.
References: For a description and analysis of the style of parliamentary government in this period, see P Loveday and A W Martin, Parliament, Factions and Parties: The First Thirty Years of Responsible Government in New South Wales, 1856-1889, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), and for comprehensive information on the Parliament of New South Wales during this period, see Clune and Griffith, ch. 1, (see 'Sources', below).
Sources
Election details are taken from the extensive information for each Legislative Assembly election provided by Antony Green in 'New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007', displayed on the Parliament of New South Wales website at: https://bit.ly/2smPu96 .
Summary electoral information and electoral maps can be found in Eamonn Clifford, Antony Green and David Clune (editors), The Electoral Atlas of New South Wales 1856-2006, (Bathurst NSW: New South Wales Department of Lands, 2006, ISBN 9780975235423); see also David Clune and Gareth Griffith, Decision and Deliberation: The Parliament of New South Wales 1856-2003, (Sydney: Federation Press, 2006, ISBN 186287591X).