Parliament of Western Australia, Legislative Assembly election
Election of 20 November 1943
Government in office and parliamentary support before and after the election
Government in office at election
Government in office after election
Enrolment and voting
Western Australia, Legislative Assembly votes and seats won
Election held on 20 November 1943
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 | 77,567 | 43.28 | -1.74 | 30 | 11 | 60.00 |
| Nationalist Party (Nationalists) | 43,529 | 24.29 | +0.31 | 7 | 1 | 14.00 |
| Country Party | 29,619 | 16.53 | +4.53 | 10 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Independents | 16,146 | 9.01 | -0.66 | 2 | 0 | 4.00 |
| Independent Nationalists | 5,297 | 2.96 | -3.84 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Independent Labor | 4,779 | 2.67 | +1.99 | 0 | ||
| Independent Liberal | 1,583 | 0.88 | * | 0 | ||
| Communist Party | 713 | 0.40 | +0.25 | 0 | ||
| Votes for other than listed parties | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| Totals | 179,233 | 100.00 | 50 | 12 | 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
Premier in office at election: The Willcock Australian Labor Party government was returned with its majority increased at this election (1943) even though its share of votes had declined slightly.
Extension of the term of the Legislative Assembly: The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 led to the Legislative Assembly Duration and General Election Postponement Act of 1941 which '... extended the life of the Legislative Assembly due to end on 31 January 1942 for a year, unless the Assembly should resolve to the contrary in the meantime', Hughes and Graham, Handbook, p. 565, in 'Sources', below).
Australian Labor Party: For a study of the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia which includes this period, see Ralph Pervan and Douglas Mitchell, 'The Changing Nature of the Australian Labor Party', in Ralph Pervan and Campbell Sharman (editors), Essays on Western Australian Politics, pp 129-158, (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979, ISBN 0855641495), and note R F Pervan, 'Cabinet and Caucus: Labor in Western Australia, 1933-1947', University Studies in History, [University of Western Australia], 5(1) 1967: 1-37, and 'References', below.
Nationalist Party (Nationalists): The defeat at this election (1939) continued the Nationalists' electoral problems; see David Black, 'The Liberal Party and its Predecessors', in Ralph Pervan and Campbell Sharman (editors), Essays on Western Australian Politics, pp 191-232, at pp 206-211, (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979, ISBN 0855641495).
In 1931, the federal Parliamentary Labor Party in Canberra had split over Depression finance policies, and some members of Labor Party joined with the Nationalist Party to form the United Australia Party under the leadership of Joseph Lyons (see generally, Clem Lloyd, 'The Rise and Fall of the United Australia Party', in J R Nethercote (editor), Liberalism and the Australian Federation pp 113-133, (Sydney: Federation Press, 2001, ISBN 1862874026). The political context of Western Australian politics did not lead to the creation of a WA branch of the the United Australia Party; the Nationalist Party retained its name but cooperated with the federal party at federal elections. As elsewhere in this database, the name Nationalist Party (Nationalists) is used for the Western Australian party even though some references -- and contemporary commentary -- referred to the party in Western Australia as the National Party; the use of the label 'Nationalist' is used to distinguish the party from the National Party which emerged in the 1970s.
Country Party: Organizational changes to the Country Party as a consequence of its major split in 1923 (for details, see the notes for the 1924 Legislative Assembly elections) had strengthened the party even though defeat at this election (1943) had condemned it to another stint on the opposition benches; see Lenore Layman, 'The Country Party: Rise and Decline', in Ralph Pervan and Campbell Sharman (editors), Essays on Western Australian Politics, pp 159-190, at pp 164-167 (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1979, ISBN 0855641495).
References: For the political context of this election (1943), see David Black, 'The Era of Labor Ascendancy 1924-1947', in C T Stannage (editor), A New History of Western Australia, pp 406-440, (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1981, ISBN 0855641819).
For an overview of the context of Western Australian parliamentary and electoral politics in this period, see David Black, 'Factionalism and Stability, 1911-1947', in David Black (editor), The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990, pp 97-151, (Perth: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Parliament of Western Australia, 1991, ISBN 0730939839).
Sources
Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968, SBN 708102700); Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, Voting for the South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian Lower Houses 1890-1964, (Canberra: Department of Political Science, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, 1976, ISBN 0708113346); David Black, Election Statistics Legislative Assembly of Western Australia 1890-1996, Listed Alphabetically by Constituency, (Perth: Parliament of Western Australia and Western Australian Electoral Commission, 1997); and David Black. An Index to Parliamentary Candidates in Western Australian Elections State and Federal 1890-2006, 2nd edition, (Perth: Parliament of Western Australia, 2006, ISBN 1920830774).