1946 Tasmanian state election

* * *

| <- 1941 | 23 November 1946 | 1948 ->

|
|

* * *

All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Robert Cosgrove | Neil Campbell
Party  | Labor | Liberal
Leader since  | 18 December 1939  | February 1945
Leader's seat  | Denison | Wilmot
Last election  | 20 seats  | 10 seats
Seats won  | 16 seats  | 12 seats
Seat change  | 4  | 2
Percentage  | 50.97%  | 34.25%
Swing  | 11.63  | 2.33

* * *

Results of the election

* * *

| Premier before election

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

| Elected Premier

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

|

The 1946 Tasmanian state election was held on 23 November 1946 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

Incumbent Premier Robert Cosgrove continued to lead the Labor Party into the 1946 election. The Nationalist Party had reformed into the modern Liberal Party, and was led by Neil Campbell. This was Tasmania's first election since the end of World War II.

Labor won a majority in the election, although the party's vote was significantly reduced. Cosgrove dominated the government throughout Tasmania's post-war recovery.[2]

## Results

[edit]

See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1946

Party| Votes| %| +/–| Seats| +/–
| Labor| 65,843| 51.00|  11.63| 16|  4
| Liberal| 44,158| 34.20|  2.33| 12|  2
| Ind. Lib.[a]| 11,339| 8.78|  8.78| 1|  1
| Independents| 7,765| 6.01|  5.18| 1|  1
Total| 129,105| 100.00| –| 30| –
Valid votes| 129,105| 89.91| |
Invalid/blank votes| 14,484| 10.09|  5.09|
Total votes| 143,589| 100.00| –|
Registered voters/turnout| 157,756| 91.02|  0.16|

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 50.97%
Liberal |

| 34.25%
Independents |

| 14.79%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 53.33%
Liberal |

| 40.00%
Independents |

| 6.67%

a Several Nationalists did not join the new Liberal Party and ran as independents. Rex Townley was elected in Denison.

## Distribution of votes

[edit]

### Primary vote by division

[edit]

| Bass  | Darwin  | Denison  | Franklin  | Wilmot

|
|
|
|
|

Labor Party | 57.9% | 49.5% | 45.3% | 51.5% | 51.2%
Liberal Party | 31.9% | 47.7% | 19.4% | 35.2% | 36.3%
Other | 10.3% | 2.9% | 35.4% | 13.3% | 12.5%

### Distribution of seats

[edit]

| Electorate  | Seats won

|

Bass |  |  |  |  |  |
Darwin |  |  |  |  |  |
Denison |  |  |  |  |  |
Franklin |  |  |  |  |  |
Wilmot |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Labor

|

| Liberal
| Independent

## See also

[edit]

* Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1946–1948
* Candidates of the 1946 Tasmanian state election

## References

[edit]

1. ^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
2. ^ W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.

## External links

[edit]

* Assembly Election Results, 1946, Parliament of Tasmania.
* Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1947, Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

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