1987 Morley-Swan state by-election

By-election in Australia October 2016 July 2026 A by-election for the seat of Morley-Swan in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia was held on 9 May 1987. It was triggered by the resignation of Arthur Tonkin (the sitting Labor member) on 18 March 1987. The election was won by Labor's Frank Donovan, with the party suffering a small swing against it from the 1986 state election. Background Arthur Tonkin, a former schoolteacher, had held Morley-Swan for the Labor Party since the seat's creation at the 1983 state election. He had served in parliament since the 1971 election, and represented Mirrabooka and Morley before transferring to Morley-Swan. Tonkin served as a minister in the government of Brian Burke, but left cabinet in May 1986.Arthur Raymond Tonkin, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2017. He resigned from parliament altogether on 18 March 1987, with the writ for the by-election being issued on 1 April and the close of nominations on 16 April. Polling day was on 9 May, with the writ returned on 18 May.Black David Prescott, Valerie Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996 1997 Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission Perth, Western Australia 0-7309-8409-5 206 Results Morley-Swan state by-election, 1987 Labor WA Frank Donovan 10,087 56.9 –10.0 Liberal WA Kim Hames 6,361 35.8 +2.7 OAM Donald Jackson 1,294 7.3 +7.3 17,742 95.5 –1.2 840 4.5 +1.2 18,582 82.1 –10.1 Labor WA N/A Preferences were not distributed. Aftermath Morley-Swan was abolished at the 1989 state election, where Frank Donovan won the re-created seat of Morley. Donovan left the Labor Party to sit as an independent in October 1991, but did not recontest the seat at the 1993 state election.Francis Anthony Donovan, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2017. Kim Hames, his chief opponent at the by-election, ran in the seat of Perth in 1989, but was narrowly defeated by a Labor candidate. He entered parliament at his third attempt, in 1993, and eventually became deputy premier under Colin Barnett from 2008 to 2016.Kim Desmond Hames, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2017. See also List of Western Australian state by-elections References Category:Western Australian state by-elections Category:1987 elections in Australia Category:May 1987 in Australia Category:1980s in Perth, Western Australia