1947 South Australian state election

1947 South Australian state election
← 1944 8 March 1947 (1947-03-08) 1950 →
All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Thomas Playford Robert Richards
Party Liberal and Country League Labor
Leader since 5 November 1938 1 April 1938
Leader's seat Gumeracha Wallaroo
Last election 20 seats 16 seats
Seats won 23 seats 13 seats
Seat change Increase3 Decrease3
Percentage 52.0% 48.0%
Swing Increase5.3 Decrease5.3
Premier before election

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

Elected Premier

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

State elections were held in South Australia on 8 March 1947. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League government led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Robert Richards.[1][2][3]

Background

The LCL won three seats—metropolitan Norwood, Prospect and Torrens—from Labor.[4] The LCL won back rural Victoria after losing it to Labor at a by-election in 1945.[1][2][5]

Results

South Australian state election, 8 March 1947[6]
House of Assembly
<< 1944–1950 >>

Enrolled voters 306,059
Votes cast 285,765 Turnout 93.37% +4.84%
Informal votes 10,366 Informal 3.63% +0.41%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 133,959 48.64% +6.12% 13 – 3
  Liberal and Country 111,216 40.38% –5.46% 23 + 3
  Communist 8,178 2.97% +0.90% 0 ± 0
  Independent 17,083 6.20% –0.43% 3 ± 0
  Independent Labor 4,963 1.80% –0.45% 0 ± 0
Total 275,399     39  
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 52.00% +5.30%
  Labor 48.00% –5.30%
  • The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1947 General Election - Formed the 32nd Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 263–265. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
  2. ^ a b Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie (eds.). Playford's South Australia: essays on the history of South Australia, 1933-1968. Association of Professional Historians. pp. 73–90. ISBN 9780646290928 – via Professional Historians Association (South Australia).
  3. ^ "Liberals Win: Gains in S.A. Elections". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 March 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Liberals win in SA: Gain Three Seats". The Mercury. 10 March 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "L.C.L Wins Victoria". The Border Watch. 15 March 1947. Retrieved 12 January 2016 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "Summary of 1947 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.