1955 Victorian state election

1955 Victorian state election

28 May 1955 (1955-05-28)
65 (of the 66) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 34 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Henry Bolte John Cain Party Liberal and Country Labor Leader since 3 June 1953 19 October 1937 Leader's seat Hampden Northcote Last election 11 seats 37 seats Seats won 33 seats 20 seats Seat change 22 17 Popular vote 487,408 420,197 Percentage 37.78% 32.57% Swing 12.93 16.50 TPP 57.92% 42.08% TPP swing 14.64 14.64   Third party Fourth party   (A-C) Leader Herbert Hyland Bill Barry Party Country Labor (A-C) Leader since 20 April 1955 April 1955 Leader's seat Gippsland South Carlton Last election 12 seats New party Seats won 11 seats 1 seat Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 122,999 162,660 Percentage 9.53% 12.61% Swing 1.19 12.61
Premier before election John Cain Labor Elected Premier Henry Bolte Liberal and Country

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%.[1]

Background

John Cain had led the Labor Party in Victoria since 1937, and had been Premier since defeating John McDonald's Country Party 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. 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.[2]

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.[3][4]

Key dates

Date	Event
20 April 1955	The Cain government was defeated in the Victorian Legislative Assembly by a motion of no-confidence.[3]
22 April 1955	The Parliament was prorogued, and the Legislative Assembly dissolved.[5]
26 April 1955	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[5]
6 May 1955	Close of nominations.[5]
28 May 1955	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
7 June 1955	Interim Bolte Ministry was sworn in.[6]
8 June 1955	The remainder of the Bolte Ministry was sworn in.[7]
15 June 1955	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.
15 June 1955	Parliament resumed for business.[8]

Results

Legislative Assembly

See also: Results of the 1955 Victorian state election (Legislative Assembly)

Victorian state election, 28 May 1955[9][10] Legislative Assembly << 1952–1958 >>
Enrolled voters		1,402,588
Votes cast		1,318,934		Turnout	94.02	+0.44
Informal votes		28,955		Informal	2.19	+0.38
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Liberal and Country	487,408	37.78	+12.93	33	+22
	Labor	420,197	32.57	−16.50	20	−17
	Labor (A-C)	162,660	12.61	+12.61	1	+1
	Country	122,999	9.53	+1.19	11	−1
	Independent	45,570	3.53	−3.38	1	±0
	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
Total		1,289,979			66
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal and Country	755,917	57.9	+14.6
	Labor	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.

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

1. "One-party rule from LCP's win". The Argus. 3 June 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
2. "Labor split widens CAIN SNUBS BARRY MEN; POLL 'SURE'". The Argus (FINAL ed.). Melbourne. 16 April 1955. p. 5. Retrieved 10 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Victorian Govt. Defeated; Election On May 28". The Central Queensland Herald. Rockhampton, Qld. 21 April 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 10 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Ainsley 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.
5. "Discharging members of the Legislative Council from attendance and dissolving the Legislative Assembly". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 22 April 1955. p. 1955:1807.
6. "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 7 June 1955. p. 1955:2803.
7. "Ministers of the Crown". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 8 June 1955. p. 1955:2845.
8. "Fixing the time for holding the first session of the forty-second Parliament of Victoria". Victoria Government Gazette. Victorian Government Printer. 27 July 1961. p. 1955:2585.
9. Election held on 28 May 1955, Australian Politics and Elections Database (University of Western Australia).
10. Colin A Hughes, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890–1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 (ISBN 0708102700).