Parliament of New South Wales, Legislative Assembly election
Election of 1 May 1976
New South Wales, Legislative Assembly votes and seats won
Election held on 1 May 1976
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 | 1,342,038 | 49.75 | +6.82 | 50 | 1 | 50.51 |
| Liberal Party | 978,886 | 36.29 | +2.44 | 30 | 0 | 30.30 |
| Country Party | 270,603 | 10.03 | -0.45 | 18 | 1 | 18.18 |
| Independents | 78,290 | 2.90 | +0.36 | 1 | 0 | 1.01 |
| Australia Party | 7,407 | 0.27 | -3.93 | 0 | ||
| Communist Party | 2,220 | 0.08 | * | 0 | ||
| Votes for other than listed parties | 18,085 | 0.67 | +0.64 | |||
| Totals | 2,697,529 | 100.00 | 99 | 2 | 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
Premier in office at election: There had been two changes of premier since the previous election; Premier Askin announced his retirement in December 1975 and his replacement, Lewis, was commissioned as Premier of a Liberal Party and National Party coalition government on 3 January 1976. Lewis lost the confidence of his parliamentary colleagues in the Liberal Party and was replaced as leader by Willis who took office as Premier on 23 January 1976; see Bennett, pp. 115-119 (see 'Reference', below) and the entries for Lewis and Willis in the 'Governments' section of this website.
Reference: For a comprehensive survey of this election and the preceding period, see Scott Bennett, '1976', in Michael Hogan and David Clune (editors), The People's Choice: Electoral Politics in 20th Century New South Wales, vol. 3 (1968-1999), pp. 111-146, (Sydney: Parliament of New South Wales and University of Sydney, 2001, ISBN 0909907412).
Sources
Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1975-1984, pp. 189-196, (Rushcutters Bay, NSW: Australian National University Press, 1986, ISBN 008033038X); 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).