1915 Queensland state election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 22 May 1915 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

1915 Queensland state election

22 May 1915 (1915-05-22)
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Registered	302,061
Turnout	88.14 (12.62 pp)
First party Second party Third party   FU Leader T. J. Ryan Digby Denham No leader Party Labor Liberal Farmers' Union Leader since 6 September 1912 (1912-09-06) 7 February 1911 N/A Leader's seat Barcoo Oxley (lost seat) N/A Last election 25 seats, 46.70% 46 seats, 51.37% Did not contest Seats won 45 21 5 Seat change 20 25 5 Popular vote 136,419 109,985 13,233 Percentage 52.06% 41.97% 5.05% Swing 5.36 4.73 5.05
Legislative Assembly after the election
Premier before election Digby Denham Liberal Elected Premier T. J. Ryan Labor

The election was the second for the Liberal government of Digby Denham, who had been premier since 7 February 1911. The opposition Labor Party, led by T. J. Ryan, had two previous Premiers — Anderson Dawson in 1899 and William Kidston in 1906 — but the former did not command a majority of parliamentary support, while the latter maintained it by splitting the Labor Party. Labor had never before held majority government.

The election was the first in Australia to be conducted using compulsory voting due to Denham's concern that Trade Unions were effectively mobilising the ALP vote; he felt that compulsory voting would ensure a more level playing field. However, it turned out that the change to compulsory voting was not enough to save Denham's premiership.

The election resulted in the defeat of the government, and Queensland's first majority Labor government. All except two members of the Ministry up for election, including Denham himself, lost their seats.

Key dates

Date	Event
15 April 1915	The Parliament was dissolved.
15 April 1915	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
28 April 1915	Close of nominations.
22 May 1915	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
1 June 1915	The Denham Ministry resigned and the Ryan Ministry was sworn in.
21 June 1915	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
13 July 1915	Parliament resumed for business.

Results

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 1915

The election saw a landslide to Labor from the 1912 election.

Queensland state election, 22 May 1915 Legislative Assembly << 1912–1918 >>
Enrolled voters		302,061[1]
Votes cast		266,240		Turnout	88.14	+12.62
Informal votes		4,188		Informal	1.57	+0.38
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	136,419	52.06	+5.36	45	+20
	Liberals	109,985	41.97	–4.73	21	–25
	Farmers' Union	13,233	5.05	+5.05	5	+ 5
	Independent	2,415	0.92	–0.82	1	± 0
Total		262,052			72

¹ 335,195 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 8 seats (11.1% of the total) were uncontested—6 Labor seats representing 24,564 enrolled voters, one Liberal seat representing 3,999 voters, and one Farmers' Union seat representing 4,571 voters.

Seats changing party representation

This table lists changes in party representation at the 1915 election.

Seat	Incumbent member	Party		New member	Party
Albert	John Appel		Liberal	John Appel		Farmers' Union
Aubigny	Alfred Luke		Liberal	Arthur Moore		Farmers' Union
Bowen	Edwin Caine		Liberal	Charles Collins		Labor
Bremer	James Cribb		Liberal	Frank Cooper		Labor
Bulimba	Walter Barnes		Liberal	Hugh McMinn		Labor
Charters Towers	Robert Williams		Liberal	William Wellington		Labor
Cook	Henry Douglas		Liberal	Henry Ryan		Labor
Drayton	William Bebbington		Liberal	William Bebbington		Farmers' Union
Enoggera	Richard Trout		Liberal	William Lloyd		Labor
Fitzroy	Kenneth Grant		Liberal	Harry Hartley		Labor
Gympie	George Mackay		Liberal	Thomas Dunstan		Labor
Ipswich	James Blair		Liberal	David Gledson		Labor
Kurilpa	James Allan		Liberal	William Hartley		Labor
Mackay	Walter Paget		Liberal	William Smith		Labor
Maryborough	Edward Corser		Liberal	Alfred Jones		Labor
Merthyr	Thomas Welsby		Liberal	Peter McLachlan		Labor
Mount Morgan	James Crawford		Liberal	James Stopford		Labor
Musgrave	John White		Liberal	Thomas Armfield		Labor
Nanango	Robert Hodge		Liberal	Robert Hodge		Farmers' Union
Normanby	Edward Archer		Liberal	Jens Peterson		Labor
Oxley	Digby Denham		Liberal	Thomas Jones		Labor
Pittsworth	Donald Mackintosh		Liberal	Percy Bayley		Farmers' Union
Port Curtis	John Kessell		Liberal	George Carter		Labor
South Brisbane	Thomas Bouchard		Liberal	Edgar Free		Labor
Townsville	Robert Philp		Liberal	Daniel Ryan		Labor
Windsor	Hugh Macrossan		Liberal	Herbert McPhail		Labor

• Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.

Aftermath

This was the start of a period of Labor hegemony over the Assembly which lasted until 1957; the only breach was the Moore ministry of the 1929–1932 period.

See also

• Candidates of the Queensland state election, 1915
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1912–1915
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1915–1918
• Denham Ministry
• Ryan Ministry