1936 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 15 February 1936 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Philip Collier, won a second term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Charles Latham and Norbert Keenan respectively.

1936 Western Australian state election

15 February 1936
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Leader Philip Collier Charles Latham Party Labor Country/National coalition Leader since 16 April 1917 24 April 1933 Leader's seat Boulder York Last election 30 seats 20 seats Seats won 26 seats 21 seats Seat change 4 1 Percentage 42.33% 46.96% Swing 3.15 2.15
Premier before election Philip Collier Labor Elected Premier Philip Collier Labor

The only member to retire at the election was Labor member for Kalgoorlie James Cunningham, who transferred to the Australian Senate the following year.

Results

At the election, 5 sitting members (four Labor and one Nationalist) were defeated—three of them by independents. In Maylands, one-term MLA Robert Clothier (Labor) was defeated by independent Nationalist Harry Shearn, who won with preferences from two endorsed nationalists. In East Perth, Minister for Employment and Labour James Kenneally was defeated by former Labor member Thomas Hughes, and the Nationalist member for Nelson, John Henry Smith, was defeated by independent Clarence Doust. The remaining seats, Subiaco and Albany, were lost by Labor to the Nationalist and Country parties respectively.

Western Australian state election, 15 February 1936 Legislative Assembly << 1933–1939 >>
Enrolled voters		194,354^[1]
Votes cast		136,309		Turnout	70.13%	–20.47%
Informal votes		1,518		Informal	1.11%	–1.12%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	57,055	42.33%	–3.15%	26	– 4
	Nationalist	43,619	32.36%	+1.83%	8	± 0
	Country	19,685	14.60%	+0.32%	13	+ 1
	Ind. Nat.	3,418	2.54%	+1.33%	1	+ 1
	Social Credit	1,385	1.03%	+1.03%	0	± 0
	Communist	118	0.09%	–0.16%	0	± 0
	Independent	9,431	7.00%	–1.21%	2	+ 2
Total		134,791			50

¹ 247,465 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 15 of the 50 seats were uncontested—10 Labor seats representing 33,038 enrolled voters, 1 Nationalist seat representing 3,933 voters and 4 Country seats representing 16,284 voters.

See also

• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1933–1936
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1936–1939
• Second Collier Ministry

References