Victorian state election, 1920

Victorian state election, 1920

21 October 1920 (1920-10-21)

54 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly   First party Second party Third party   Leader Harry Lawson George Prendergast John Allan Party Nationalist Labor VFU Leader since May 1918 18 June 1918 Leader's seat Castlemaine and Maldon North Melbourne Rodney Last election 40 seats 18 seats 4 seats Seats won 30 seats 20 seats 13 seats Seat change 10 2 9 Percentage 47.95% 29.28% 14.41% Swing 9.03 3.00 8.28

Premier before election Harry Lawson Nationalist Elected Premier Harry Lawson Nationalist

The 1920 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Thursday 21 October 1920 to elect 54 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.^[1]

Background

The Nationalist party had reunited after the 1917 election in which the Nationalist members supporting John Bowser defeated those supporting the former Premier Alexander Peacock over his decision to increase country rail fares, and formed a majority government with 40 members. Bowser resigned as premier in March 1918, having little taste for the office, and was replaced by Peacock supporter Harry Lawson.

Meanwhile, in rural Victoria, the Victorian Farmers' Union had been gathering support and was looking to gain more seats from the Nationalists in these regions. This election would be their debut as a major force in Victorian politics where neither the Nationalists and their successors or Labor could form government without their support (or that of their successors, the Country Party) until 1952.

Results

Legislative Assembly

Notes:

• Eleven seats were uncontested at this election, and were retained by the incumbent parties:
  • Nationalist (3): Allandale, Gippsland West, Ovens
  • Labor (7): Abbotsford, Carlton, Flemington, Port Fairy, Richmond, Warrenheip, Williamstown
  • VFU (1): Wangaratta

See also

• Candidates of the Victorian state election, 1920
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1920–1921
• Victorian Legislative Council election, 1919

References

Elections and referendums in Victoria
General elections	1856 1859 1861 1864 1866 1868 1871 1874 1877 1880 (Feb) 1880 (Jul) 1883 1886 1889 1892 1894 1897 1900 1902 1904 1907 1908 1911 1914 1917 1920 1921 1924 1927 1929 1932 1935 1937 1940 1943 1945 1947 1950 1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1992 1996 1999 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 by-elections
Upper house elections	1851 1856 1858 1860 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1889 1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1898 1900 1901 1902 1904 1907 1910 1913 1916 1919 1922 1925 1928 1931 1934 1937 1940 1943 1946 1949 1952 1955 1958
Referendums	1898 1899