1914 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 21 October 1914 to elect 50 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Labor party, led by Premier John Scaddan, retained government against the opposition conservative Liberal Party led by Opposition Leader Frank Wilson, though with only the barest of majorities. The election also saw the emergence of the Western Australian Country Party, which had been formed at a conference of the Farmers and Settlers Association the previous year to fight for rural interests, and won eight seats at the election.

1914 Western Australian state election

21 October 1914
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Scaddan Frank Wilson James Gardiner Party Labor Liberal Country Leader since 3 August 1910 16 September 1910 21 October 1914 Leader's seat Brown Hill-Ivanhoe Sussex Irwin Last election 34 seats 16 seats 0 seats Seats won 26 seats 16 seats 8 seats Seat change 8 0 8 Percentage 42.12% 43.91% 13.98% Swing 10.42 0.89 13.98
Premier before election John Scaddan Labor Elected Premier John Scaddan Labor

The fragility of the Labor Party's majority was demonstrated when, a year later, Labor member Joseph Gardiner's seat was declared vacant on account of his non-attendance and a Liberal was elected in his stead, and Labor became a minority government when on 18 December 1915, Bertie Johnston resigned from the Labor Party and became an independent. On 27 July 1916, the Scaddan Ministry was defeated and Wilson became the new Premier.

Key dates

Date	Event
29 September 1914	The Parliament was dissolved.
30 September 1914	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
21 October 1914	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
4 November 1914	Polling day in the seats of Pilbara and Gascoyne.
11 November 1914	Polling day in the seats of Roebourne and Kimberley.
23 November 1914	The Scaddan Ministry was reconstituted.
3 December 1914	The new session of Parliament was convened.

Results

See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1914

Western Australian state election, 21 October 1914 Legislative Assembly << 1911–1917 >>
Enrolled voters		168,546[1]
Votes cast		96,605		Turnout	57.32	–17.56
Informal votes		1,127		Informal	1.17	–0.24
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	40,205	42.12	–10.42	26[1]	– 8
	Liberal	41,929	43.91	–0.89	16	± 0
	Country	13,344	13.98	+13.98	8	+ 8
Total		95,478			50

Notes:

¹ The Labor Party's total of 26 seats includes 12 which were uncontested, representing 39,731 of the 214,741 enrolled voters. The Liberal and Country parties won one seat each uncontested—the Liberal member (Arthur Male, Kimberley) representing 1,663 enrolled voters, and the Country member (Alfred Piesse, Electoral district of Toodyay) representing 4,801 enrolled voters.

See also

• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1911–1914
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1914–1917