Elections were held in the Australian state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect 10 of the 30 members of the state's Legislative Council.
Results
Legislative Council
Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956[1] Legislative Council |
Enrolled voters | 100,773 | | |
Votes cast | 50,935 | | Turnout | 73.3 | +24.3 |
Informal votes | 855 | | Informal | 1.7 | +0.7 |
Summary of votes by party |
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| Liberal and Country | 26,178 | 52.3 | +12.1 | 3 | 9 |
| Labor | 23,018 | 46.0 | –9.0 | 4 | 13 |
| Country | * | * | * | 3 | 8 |
| Independent | 884 | 1.8 | –2.2 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 50,080 | | | 10 | 30 |
Retiring Members
LCL
- Les Craig (South-West)
- Frank Gibson (Suburban)
Candidates
Province | Held by | Labor candidates | LCL candidates | Country candidates | Independent candidates |
| | | | | |
Central | Country | | | Leslie Diver | |
Metropolitan | LCL | Herbert Fletcher | Keith Watson | | Ray O'Connor (Ind. Lib) |
Midland | Country | | | Ray Jones | |
North | Labor | Harry Strickland | Edmund Webb | | |
North-East | Labor | Eric Heenan | James Boyd | | |
South | Country | | | Jack Thomson | |
South-East | LCL | Archibald McGillivray | John Cunningham | | |
South-West | LCL | Ernest Stapleton | Graham MacKinnon | | |
Suburban | LCL | George Jeffery | William McPherson | | |
West | Labor | Evan Davies | | | |
Election results
Central
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Central Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Country | Leslie Diver | unopposed | | |
| Country hold | Swing | | |
Metropolitan
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Metropolitan Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Liberal and Country | Keith Watson | 8,873 | 59.6 | N/A |
| Labor | Herbert Fletcher | 5,127 | 34.5 | +34.5 |
| Independent Liberal | Ray O'Connor | 884 | 5.9 | +5.9 |
Total formal votes | 14,884 | 98.2 | N/A |
Informal votes | 275 | 1.8 | N/A |
Turnout | 15,159 | 73.0 | N/A |
| Liberal and Country hold | Swing | N/A | |
- Preferences were not distributed.
Midland
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Midland Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Country | Ray Jones | unopposed | | |
| Country hold | Swing | | |
North
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: North Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labor | Harry Strickland | 906 | 63.7 | +12.2 |
| Liberal and Country | Edmund Webb | 517 | 36.3 | +2.7 |
Total formal votes | 1,423 | 98.7 | +1.4 |
Informal votes | 18 | 1.3 | −1.4 |
Turnout | 1,423 | 82.4 | +3.4 |
| Labor hold | Swing | N/A | |
North-East
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: North-East Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labor | Eric Heenan | 2,113 | 65.8 | +7.7 |
| Liberal and Country | James Boyd | 1,098 | 34.2 | -7.7 |
Total formal votes | 3,211 | 98.2 | −0.8 |
Informal votes | 58 | 1.8 | +0.8 |
Turnout | 3,269 | 75.1 | +2.0 |
| Labor hold | Swing | +7.7 | |
South
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election South Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Country | Jack Thomson | unopposed | | |
| Country hold | Swing | | |
South-East
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: South-East Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Liberal and Country | John Cunningham | 2,225 | 51.0 | +3.3 |
| Labor | Archibald McGillivray | 2,141 | 49.0 | -3.3 |
Total formal votes | 4,366 | 98.9 | +0.1 |
Informal votes | 53 | 1.1 | −0.1 |
Turnout | 4,419 | 75.9 | +12.1 |
| Liberal and Country hold | Swing | +3.3 | |
South-West
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: South-West Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Liberal and Country | Graham MacKinnon | 4,457 | 59.8 | N/A |
| Labor | Ernest Stapleton | 2,992 | 40.2 | +40.2 |
Total formal votes | 7,449 | 98.5 | N/A |
Informal votes | 115 | 1.5 | N/A |
Turnout | 7,564 | 67.7 | N/A |
| Liberal and Country hold | Swing | N/A | |
Suburban
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Suburban Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labor | George Jeffery | 9,739 | 52.0 | +4.0 |
| Liberal and Country | William McPherson | 9,008 | 48.0 | -4.0 |
Total formal votes | 18,747 | 98.2 | −1.0 |
Informal votes | 336 | 1.8 | +1.0 |
Turnout | 19,083 | 74.5 | +25.7 |
| Labor gain from Liberal and Country | Swing | +4.0 | |
West
1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: West Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labor | Evan Davies | unopposed | | |
| Labor hold | Swing | | |
See also
References
- ^ Black, David (1991). Legislative Council of Western Australia: membership register, electoral law and statistics 1890-1989. Perth, WA: Western Australian Parliamentary History Project. ISBN 0730936414.