1956 Tasmanian state election

State election in Australia April 2022 1956 Tasmanian state election Tasmania parliamentary no 1955 Tasmanian state election 1955 1959 Tasmanian state election 1959 All 30 seats to the House of Assembly 13 October 1956 Cosgrove Sir Robert HA 355.jpg 140 130 170 3 7 center Robert Cosgrove 25 February 1948 Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) Denison 15 seats 15 seats 0 50.27% 2.36 William Jackson Tasmania.jpg 140 130 170 7 7 center Tim Jackson 26 June 1956 Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) Franklin 15 seats 15 seats 0 43.61% 1.74 1956 Tasmanian state election.svg 350px Results of the election Premier Resulting Premier Robert Cosgrove Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) Robert Cosgrove Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) The 1956 Tasmanian state election was held on 13 October 1956 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation systemHouse of Assembly Elections https://web.archive.org/web/20180709035743/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Backg/HAElections.htm 9 July 2018 , Parliament of Tasmania. — six members were elected from each of five electorates. Background The 1955 election had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock between the Labor and Liberal parties, with each holding 15 seats in the House of Assembly. Under the terms of a constitutional amendment introduced in 1954, the ALP had been declared the "majority party" as the winner of the most primary votes, with the Liberal Party entitled to appoint the speaker of the House of Assembly and thereby give the ALP a working majority of one seat.10.1111/j.1467-8497.1955.tb00987.x Australian Political Chronicle January-June, 1955 Australian Journal of Politics & History 1955 115-117 On 11 September 1956, Cosgrove's minister for housing, Carrol Bramich, resigned from the ALP following an internal row, party switching and giving the Liberal opposition a 16–14 majority in the House of Assembly.Tasmanian Political Alamanc - On This Day, Parliament of Tasmania. Cosgrove obtained a dissolution of parliament from the Governor of Tasmania, and an election was called for 13 October.W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507. The electorate of Darwin had been renamed in 1955 to Braddon, after former Premier Sir Edward Braddon. Results Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1956 Following the 1956 election, the ALP and Liberals remained in a 15-seat deadlock. Despite Bramich's defection to the Liberals, Labor picked up a seat in Bramich's electorate of Braddon, maintaining the status quo with Cosgrove and the ALP still in power. File:1955-56 TAS House of Assembly.svg 174632 6968 +1.30 +0.40 #f00011 Labor 80096 -2.36 15 #080cab Liberal 69477 -1.74 15 Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) 5522 New 0 New Independents 4139 +0.58 0 Communist 91 +0.06 0 Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 50.27 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 43.61 Labor (Anti-Communist) #008080 3.47 Communist #C00000 0.06 Independents Independent 2.60 Seats #ddd 600px 410px Labor Australian Labor Party 50.00 Liberal Liberal Party of Australia 50.00 Distribution of votes Primary vote by division Bass Braddon Denison Franklin Wilmot Labor Party 51.5% 48.5% 48.7% 49.0% 53.7% Liberal Party 44.5% 46.9% 41.4% 42.9% 42.5% Other 4.0% 4.6% 9.9% 8.1% 3.8% Distribution of seats auto Electorate Seats won Bass             Braddon             Denison             Franklin             Wilmot             5em   Labor   Liberal Government formation and aftermath As both major parties finished with 15 seats, the deadlock provisions of the constitution were again invoked and the ALP was deemed to be the "majority party", having recorded the most popular votes. Cosgrove continued as premier with Liberal MP Kevin Lyons elected as speaker, giving the ALP a working majority.10.1111/j.1467-8497.1957.tb01012.x Australian Political Chronicle July-December, 1956 2 2 Australian Journal of Politics & History 1957 243-244 The subsequent election in 1959 saw the number of seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly increased to 35, which would prevent the kind of deadlock which resulted from having an even number of seats in the house. See also Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, 1956–1959 Candidates of the 1956 Tasmanian state election References External links Assembly Election Results, 1956 https://web.archive.org/web/20080726171453/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/Elections/e1956.htm 26 July 2008 , Parliament of Tasmania. Report on Parliamentary Elections, 1956, Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Category:Elections in Tasmania Category:1956 elections in Australia Category:1950s in Tasmania Category:October 1956 in Australia