Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Assembly election
Election of 25 March 1922
New South Wales, Legislative Assembly votes and seats won
Election held on 25 March 1922
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 % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationalist - Progressive Coalition | 364,211 | 43.17 | * | 41 | 0 | 45.56 |
| Australian Labor Party | 324,677 | 38.48 | -4.60 | 36 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Progressive Party | 93,488 | 11.08 | -4.04 | 9 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Independents | 45,289 | 5.37 | -1.35 | 3 | 0 | 3.33 |
| Democratic Party (Catholic Federation) | 14,354 | 1.70 | -0.69 | 1 | 0 | 1.11 |
| Votes for other than listed parties | 1,674 | 0.20 | -1.52 | |||
| Totals | 843,693 | 100.00 | 90 | 0 | 100.00 |
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* 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 second of three general elections in New South Wales to use the single transferable vote system of proportional representation (PR-STV). The 90 members were to be elected from 24 multimember districts; 'Eight electoral districts in metropolitan areas were represented by five Members each and 15 regional and rural districts were represented by three Members each. Voters were required to give preferences for at least five candidates and could give preferences for additional candidates if they chose', Anne Twomey, The Constitution of New South Wales, p. 343 (Sydney: Federation Press, 2004, ISBN 1862875162).
Government in office at election: There had been two changes of government since the previous election, and three changes of premier. Storey, as premier of the Labour Party minority government commissioned after the 1920 election, died in office and was replaced by Dooley as premier on 6 October 1921. The resignation of the Speaker of the assembly in December 1921 meant that the minority government could no longer count on the support of the assembly and Dooley resigned as premier on 20 December 1921. Fuller was commissioned on the same day as premier of a minority Nationalist Party and Progressive Party coalition government. Seven hours later, Fuller found that he did not have majority support in the assembly, and Dooley was recommissioned as premier of a Labor Party minority government late on 20 December 1921. For more details and references, see the 1921 entry for 'Fuller' in the 'Governments' section of this website.
Nationalist - Progressive Coalition minority government: At the 1922 election, the Progressive Party campaigned as two groups, one led by Wearne as part of a coalition with the Nationalist Party, the other led by Bruxner which campaigned as 'True Blue' Progressives (the entry for the Progressive Party shown in the table above). After the election, the coalition of the Nationalists and the Wearne group of Progressives were short of a majority of seats and relied on the Bruxner Progressives to keep them in office. As the Bruxner Progressives did not form part of the government, the Fuller government's parliamentary support is shown as a minority government; see Hogan, '1922', pp. 241, 243-244, 262-263, 266 (see 'Reference', below).
Democratic Party (Catholic Federation): The Democratic Party was a Roman Catholic sectarian party strongly opposed by a federation of Protestant groups; for a description of religious issues at this election, see Hogan, '1922', pp. 248-253, 264-265 (reference in following paragraph),
Reference: For a comprehensive survey of this election and the preceding period, see Michael Hogan, '1922', 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. 235-267, (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).