1955 Victorian state election

Australian state election April 2022 1955 Victorian state election Victoria parliamentary no 1952 Victorian state election 1952 1958 Victorian state election 1958 65 (of the 66) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 34 yes 1955 5 28 150x150px Henry Bolte 3 June 1953 Liberal and Country Party 080CAB Hampden 487,408 37.78% 12.93 11 seats 33 seats 22 150x150px John Cain 19 October 1937 Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) Northcote 420,197 32.57% 16.50 37 seats 20 seats 17 150x150px Herbert Hyland 20 April 1955 Country Party (Victoria) Gippsland South 122,999 9.53% 1.19 12 seats 11 seats 1 Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955) (A-C) 150x150px Bill Barry 30 March 1955 Labor (A-C) 008080 Carlton 162,660 12.61% 12.61 New party 1 seat 1 TPP TPP swing 57.92% 14.64 42.08% 14.64 Premier John Cain Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) Henry Bolte Liberal and Country Party The 1955 Victorian state election was held in the Australian State of Victoria on Saturday, 28 May 1955 to elect 65 (of the 66) members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The incumbent Labor Party Government was defeated by the Liberal and Country Party (LCP) led by Henry Bolte with a swing of 14.6%.One-party rule from LCP's win https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71886189 The Argus 17 January 2025 1 3 June 1955 The Liberal party would hold power until 1982. Background John Cain had led the Labor Party in Victoria since 1937, and had been Premier since defeating John McDonald's Country Party led government at the 1952 election, forming the first majority Labor government in Victoria's history. The leader of the opposition Liberal and Country Party, Trevor Oldham, had died on 2 May 1953 in a plane crash on his way to attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Oldham's deputy, Henry Bolte, succeeded him a few days later. The election was triggered by events related to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955, in which followers of B. A. Santamaria's "Movement"—Catholic, anti-Communist, right-aligned members of the Labor Party—were accused by federal leader H. V. Evatt of contributing to his loss of the 1954 federal election to Robert Menzies. The federal executive set about expelling "disloyal" members who supported the Movement. In the Victorian parliament, the anti-Communists were known as the Barry–Coleman group after the leaders of the faction: Bill Barry in the Legislative Assembly and Les Coleman in the Legislative Council. They were elected by the 17 Labor members suspended from the caucus at a meeting on 30 March 1955.https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/6557938 Lance Loader Barry, Coleman to Lead Rebels: Cain Will Fight On The Argus 31 March 1955 1 In April 1955, Barry and Coleman wrote to Cain requesting a unity conference, but the request was rejected, with Cain telling the group that they could only achieve unity within the ALP, by accepting the authority of the Labor federal conference and executive, and the Victorian central executive.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71876785 Labor split widens CAIN SNUBS BARRY MEN; POLL 'SURE'. The Argus Melbourne 16 April 1955 10 April 2012 5 FINAL National Library of Australia On the night of 19 April, Bolte moved a motion of no-confidence against Cain's government in the Legislative Assembly. In the early hours of 20 April, following a twelve-hour debate, eleven anti-Communist Labor members crossed the floor to support Bolte's motion. With his government defeated, Cain sought and received a dissolution of parliament later that day.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75437726 Victorian Govt. Defeated; Election On May 28. The Central Queensland Herald Rockhampton, Qld. 21 April 1955 10 April 2012 6 National Library of AustraliaAinsley Symons (2012), 'Democratic Labor Party members in the Victorian Parliament of 1955–1958,' in Recorder (Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Melbourne Branch) No. 275, November, Pages 4-5. Key dates Date Event 20 April 1955 The Cain government was defeated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by a motion of no-confidence. 22 April 1955 The Parliament was prorogued, and the Legislative Assembly dissolved.1955 1807 Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly 22 April 1955 26 April 1955 Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. 6 May 1955 Close of nominations. 28 May 1955 Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. 7 June 1955 Interim Bolte Ministry was sworn in.1955 2803 Ministers of the Crown 7 June 1955 8 June 1955 The remainder of the Bolte Ministry was sworn in.1955 2845 Ministers of the Crown 8 June 1955 15 June 1955 The writ was returned and the results formally declared. 15 June 1955 Parliament resumed for business.1955 2585 27 July 1961 Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria Results Legislative Assembly Results of the 1955 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly) Victorian state election, 28 May 1955Election held on 28 May 1955, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890–1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 (0708102700). Legislative Assembly Victorian state election 1952 1958 1,402,588 1,318,934 94.02 +0.44 28,955 2.19 +0.38 yes Liberal VIC Liberal and Country 487,408 37.78 +12.93 33 +22 Labor VIC 420,197 32.57 −16.50 20 −17 Labor (Anti-Communist) 162,660 12.61 +12.61 1 +1 Country VIC 122,999 9.53 +1.19 11 −1 Independent 45,570 3.53 −3.38 1 ±0 Victorian Liberal Victorian Liberal 44,692 3.46 −6.13 0 −4 Communist 4,589 0.35 −0.88 0 ±0 Henry George Justice 1,864 0.14 +0.14 0 ±0 1,289,979 66 Liberal and Country 755,917 57.9 +14.6 Labor VIC 549,233 42.1 –14.6 |} Notes: The seat of Gippsland South was retained uncontested by Sir Herbert Hyland for the Country Party. Figures for enrolled voters and ballots cast are for contested seats only. The Victorian Liberal Party contested the previous election as the Electoral Reform League. The party was formed by a group of disaffected former Liberal and Country Party members who followed Thomas Hollway when he was expelled from the L&CP. Boundaries after the 1952 election had been redistributed, with every two state districts nesting into one federal electorate, reducing malapportionment.Dunstan David 2007 Biography - Sir Henry Edward Bolte - Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bolte-sir-henry-edward-12227 live https://web.archive.org/web/20250428150957/https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bolte-sir-henry-edward-12227 2025-04-28 2025-08-14 Australian Dictionary of Biography "Hollway obtained support from the party’s executive for the '2 for 1' scheme, whereby every Federal electorate would be divided into two State electorates, ending an imbalance in the electoral distribution that grossly favoured country voters. But many members of the LCP, Bolte among them, had reservations, believing Labor would benefit. [...] In December 1951 the parliamentary party dumped Hollway and his deputy Trevor Oldham and elected L. G. Norman as leader and Bolte as his deputy. [...] Norman and Bolte then sought to reverse the party’s commitment to the 2 for 1 scheme. [...] Labor won the election and implemented the 2 for 1 plan." See also Candidates of the 1955 Victorian state election 1955 Victorian Legislative Council election Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1955–1958 Members of the Victorian Legislative Council, 1955–1958 References Category:1955 elections in Australia Category:Elections in Victoria (state) Category:1955 in Victoria (state) Category:May 1955 in Australia Category:History of Australia