1896 South Australian colonial election

25 April 1896 (1896-04-25)

All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
28 seats were needed for a majority

	First party	Second party	Third party
	NDL
Leader	Unknown	John McPherson	Charles Kingston
Party	Conservative	United Labor	Liberal
Leader since		1891	1893
Leader's seat		East Adelaide	Torrens
Seats won	21	12	15
Percentage	31.14	24.29	20.50
Swing	9.27%	5.53%	10.24%

Premier before election

Charles Kingston
Liberal

Elected Premier

Charles Kingston
Liberal

The 1896 South Australian colonial election was held on 25 April 1896 to elect all 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly. In the seat of Northern Territory, the election was on 2 May.^[1] All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent liberal government led by Premier of South Australia Charles Kingston in an informal coalition with the United Labor Party (ULP) led by John McPherson defeated the conservative opposition. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.

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Background

The period after the 1893 election saw an increasing competition between the two new political parties – the ULP and the conservative National Defence League (NDL). It also reflected a trend for the conservative members to gravitate to the NDL, and the progressive members to support Kingston, a strong advocate of progressive social policy and reform of the Legislative Council. There was no formal "Liberal" or "Kingston" party, but there was a relatively cohesive Kingston group among both independent members and candidates. The Liberal and Democratic Union would not be formed until the 1906 election.

The election was held concurrently with the first referendum in Australia.^[2]

Women's suffrage in Australia took a leap forward – enacted in 1895 and taking effect from this election, South Australia was the first in Australia and only the second in the world after New Zealand to allow women to vote, and the first in the world to allow women to stand for election.^[3] However, the first female would not be elected to the Parliament of South Australia until the 1959 election when Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele were elected for the Liberal and Country League, and the 1965 election for Labor with Molly Byrne.

Results

House of Assembly (FPTP) (Non-CV)^[4]
Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Conservative	50,127	31.14	+9.27	21
	United Labor	39,107	24.29	+5.53	12	2
	Liberal	33,002	20.50	−10.24	15	8
	Independent	9,238	5.74	+2.15	2	2
	Independent Liberal	5,855	3.64	+3.64	4	4
	Other	23,654	14.69	−10.35	0
Formal votes		160,983
Informal votes		1,436
Total		162,419			54
Registered voters / turnout		137,781	66.30	−0.80

References

^ "Statistical Record of the Legislature, 1836-2009" (PDF). Parliament of South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
^ "South Australian Referenda" (PDF). State Electoral Office - South Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 October 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
^ "Women's Suffrage Petition 1894: parliament.sa.gov.au" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
^ "Election of 25 April 1896". The University of Western Australia.

v t e Elections and referendums in South Australia
General elections	1851 1855 1857 1860 1862 1865 1868 1870 1871 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1906 1910 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1970 1973 1975 1977 1979 1982 1985 1989 1993 1997 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 by-elections
Legislative Council elections	1861 1865 1869 1873 1877 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1897 1900
Local elections	1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 2000 2003 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
First Nations Voice elections	2024
Referendums	1896 1898 1899 1911 1915 1965 1970 1982 1991

This page was last edited on 18 October 2023, at 13:45