Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Assembly election
Election of 14 October 1910
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 14 October 1910
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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party | 280,056 | 48.92 | +16.06 | 46 | 3 | 51.11 |
| Liberal Party | 240,154 | 41.95 | -3.31 | 37 | 0 | 41.11 |
| Independent Liberal | 39,735 | 6.94 | -3.73 | 6 | 0 | 6.67 |
| Independents | 8,516 | 1.49 | -9.24 | 1 | 0 | 1.11 |
| Farmers and Settlers Party | 4,039 | 0.71 | * | 0 | ||
| Votes for other than listed parties | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| Totals | 572,500 | 100.00 | 90 | 3 | 100.00 |
Previous election in this series | Next election in this series | Display Chart
* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.
Notes
Electoral system: This was the first of three elections in New South Wales to use the second ballot system of run off elections in those electoral districts where no candidate gained a majority of the vote; for details of the system, see Hughes and Graham, p. 425 (reference in Sources, below). At this election, only three run off elections were held (figures for run off elections are not shown).
Premier in office at election: There had been a change of Premier since the previous election, with Wade replacing Carruthers as Premier of a Liberal minority government. The Carruthers Liberal minority government had been returned at the previous (1907) election but Carruthers resigned as Premier less than three weeks later and advised the Governor to commission Wade. For details of the circumstances of this resignation and references, see the entry for 'Carruthers' in the 'Governments' section of this website.
Parties:This election produced the first Australian Labor Party government in New South Wales, and was the first election contested by the Farmers and Settlers Party, a precursor to the Country Party. For a description and analysis of the style of parliamentary government in this period and the emergence of political parties, see P. Loveday, A W Martin and Patrick Weller, 'New South Wales', in P Loveday, A W Martin and R S Parker, (editors), The Emergence of the Australian Party System, pp. 172-248, (Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1977 ISBN 0908094035).
Reference: For a comprehensive survey of this election and the preceding period, see Michael Hogan, '1910', in Michael Hogan and David Clune (editors), The People's Choice: Electoral Politics in 20th Century New South Wales, vol. 1 (1901 to 1927), pp. 91-117, (Sydney: Parliament of New South Wales and University of Sydney, 2001, ISBN 0909907390).
Sources
Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, pp. 423-460, (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968, SBN 708102700); New South Wales, Parliament, The New South Wales Parliamentary Record: Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, 1824-1999, vol. VI, pp. 7-15, (Sydney: Parliament of New South Wales, 1999).