Victorian state election, 1940

Victorian state election, 1940

16 March 1940 (1940-03-16)

44 (of the 65) seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly   First party Second party Third party   Leader John Cain Albert Dunstan Sir Stanley Argyle Party Labor United Country United Australia Leader since 18 October 1937 14 March 1935 3 September 1930 Leader's seat Northcote Korong and Eaglehawk Toorak Last election 20 seats 20 seats 21 seats Seats before 21 seats 22 seats 18 seats Seats won 22 seats 22 seats 16 seats Seat change 1 0 2 Percentage 33.17% 14.16% 35.41% Swing 7.86 2.81 4.15

Premier before election Albert Dunstan United Country Elected Premier Albert Dunstan United Country

The 1940 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 16 March 1940 to elect 44 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.

Background

Several events had taken place since the previous state election on 2 October 1937, which had changed the breakdown of the parties in the Assembly:

• In November 1937, Ian Macfarlan (the member for Brighton) left the United Australia Party (UAP) and sat as an Independent. Macfarlan gave two reasons for his resignation from the UAP: that the party was sitting in opposition to the Dunstan Country government which he praised; and that it was controlled by a central body outside of the parliament, the members of which were unknown to most party members.^[1] Frederick Holden (Grant) also left the UAP and sat on the cross benches.^[2] This reduced the UAP's numbers from 21 to 19.
• Ernie Bond (Port Fairy and Glenelg) had been expelled from the Labor Party (ALP) over his support for the "Premiers' Plan" in 1932, and had won several elections as an independent. He was re-admitted to the ALP in on 16 April 1938.^[3] This increased the ALP's numbers from 20 to 21.
• On 5 November 1938, the United Country Party (UCP) won a by-election in the seat of Gippsland North, after the death of the sitting member James Weir McLachlan, an independent.^[4] This reduced the number of Independents to 3, and increased the numbers for the UCP from 20 to 21.
• In August 1939, Alfred Kirton (Mornington) resigned from the UAP and sat briefly as an independent, before joining the United Country Party on 29 August 1939. This reduced the UAP from 19 seats to 18, and increased the UCP seats from 21 to 22.^[5]

Results

Legislative Assembly

See also

• Candidates of the Victorian state election, 1940
• Victorian Legislative Council election, 1940

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