1956 Queensland state election

* * *

| <- 1953 | 19 May 1956 (1956-05-19) | 1957 ->

|
|

* * *

All 75 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
38 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout| 93.01 ( 0.79 pp)
|  | First party  | Second party

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Vince Gair | Frank Nicklin
Party  | Labor | Coalition
Leader since  | 17 January 1952 (1952-01-17) | 21 May 1941
Leader's seat  | South Brisbane | Landsborough
Last election  | 50 seats  | 23 seats
Seats won  | 49 | 24
Seat change  |  1  |  1
Popular vote  | 335,311 | 290,299
Percentage  | 51.22% | 44.34%
Swing  | 1.99  |  4.30

* * *

| Premier before election

Vince Gair
Labor

| Elected Premier

Vince Gair
Labor

|

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 19 May 1956 to elect the 75 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The Labor government was seeking its ninth continuous term in office since the 1932 election; it would be Vince Gair's second election as Premier.

Labor would not win another election in the state until 1989.

## Key dates[edit]

Date  | Event

|

17 April 1956  | The Parliament was dissolved.[1]
17 April 1956  | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
27 April 1956  | Close of nominations.
19 May 1956  | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
26 May 1956  | Polling day in the seat of Warrego, delayed due to absence of the presiding officer.[3]
28 May 1956  | The Gair Ministry was re-sworn in.[4]
2 June 1956  | Polling day in the seat of Tablelands, delayed due to floods.[3]
30 June 1956  | The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
31 July 1956  | Parliament resumed for business.[5]

## Results[edit]

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1956

Queensland state election, 19 May 1956[6]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1953–1957 >>

Enrolled voters  | 712,508[1] |  |
Votes cast  | 662,680  |  | Turnout | 93.01  | –0.79
Informal votes  | 8,006  |  | Informal  | 1.21  | –0.07
Summary of votes by party
Party  | Primary votes  | %  | Swing  | Seats  | Change
| Labor | 335,311  | 51.22  | –1.99  | 49 | – 1
| Liberal | 164,116  | 25.07  | +3.77  | 8  | ± 0
| Country | 126,183  | 19.27  | +0.53  | 16  | \+ 1
| NQ Labor | 8,625  | 1.32  | +0.22  | 1  | ± 0
| Communist | 1,332  | 0.20  | –0.45  | 0  | ± 0
| Independent Labor | 414  | 0.06  | –0.08  | 0  | ± 0
| Independent | 18,693  | 2.86  | –0.26  | 1  | ± 0
Total  | 654,674  |  |  | 75  |

| Popular vote

|  |
Labor |

| 51.22%
Liberal |

| 25.07%
Country |

| 19.27%
NQ Labor |

| 1.32%
Communist |

| 0.20%
Independents |

| 2.92%

| Seats

|  |
Labor |

| 65.33%
Country |

| 21.33%
Liberal |

| 10.67%
NQ Labor |

| 1.33%
Independents |

| 1.33%

1 775,258 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 6 seats representing 62,750 enrolled voters were unopposed: three Country seats (28,062 voters), two Liberal seats (23,119 voters) and one Labor seat (11,569 voters).

## Seats changing party representation[edit]

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1956 election.

Seat | Incumbent member | Party | New member | Party
Mackenzie | Paddy Whyte |  | Labor  | Nev Hewitt |  | Country

## Aftermath[edit]

This was to be Labor's last successful election until the 1989 election. On 18 April 1957, the Queensland Central Executive of the Labor Party passed a vote of no confidence in Premier Gair, and on 24 April, despite having gained a unanimous vote of support from the Cabinet, he was expelled from the Labor Party. On 26 April, Gair convened a meeting of 25 MLAs, including all of the Cabinet except Deputy Premier John Duggan and two ex-Labor Independents, and formed the Queensland Labor Party (QLP) with those present, while the Labor Party moved to the opposition benches. All these were also expelled from the party. The resulting government was denied supply in parliament, and an election was called for 3 August, at which the QLP government and the Labor Party were defeated by the Country-Liberal coalition led by Frank Nicklin.

## See also[edit]

* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1953–1956
* Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1956–1957
* Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1956
* Gair Ministry

## References[edit]

1. ^ "A Proclamation". Queensland Government Gazette. 17 April 1956. p. 191:1397.
2. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 17 April 1956. p. 191:1399.
3. ^ a b "Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 31 July 1956. p. 192:1408..
4. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 28 May 1956. p. 192:612.
5. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 21 June 1956. p. 192:1011.
6. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 19 May 1956". Retrieved 25 January 2010.

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