1950 South Australian state election
← 1947 4 March 1950 (1950-03-04) 1953 →
All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly
20 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Thomas Playford Mick O'Halloran
Party Liberal and Country League Labor
Leader since 5 November 1938 10 October 1949
Leader's seat Gumeracha Frome
Last election 23 seats 13 seats
Seats won 23 seats 12 seats
Seat change Steady0 Decrease1
Percentage 51.3% 48.7%
Swing Decrease0.7 Increase0.7
Premier before election

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

Elected Premier

Thomas Playford
Liberal and Country League

State elections were held in South Australia on 4 March 1950. All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Liberal and Country League led by Premier of South Australia Thomas Playford IV defeated the Australian Labor Party led by Leader of the Opposition Mick O'Halloran.[1][2][3][4]

Background

Only one seat changed hands, rural Stanley saw the Labor member re-elected as an independent member.[5][6] Notably, neither major party contested the independent-held seat of Ridley.[1][2]

Results

South Australian state election, 4 March 1950[7]
House of Assembly
<< 1947–1953 >>

Enrolled voters 311,658
Votes cast 290,306 Turnout 93.15% –0.22%
Informal votes 9,667 Informal 3.33% –0.30%
Summary of votes by party
Party Primary votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 134,952 48.09% –0.55% 12 – 1
  Liberal and Country 113,673 40.51% +0.12% 23 ± 0
  Communist 3,749 1.34% –1.63% 0 ± 0
  Independent 28,265 10.07% +3.87% 4 + 1
Total 280,639     39  
Two-party-preferred
  Liberal and Country 51.30% –0.70%
  Labor 48.70% +0.70%

Post-election pendulum

LCL seats (23)
Marginal
Victoria Roy McLachlan LCL 2.7%
Norwood Roy Moir LCL 4.5%
Torrens Shirley Jeffries LCL 4.5%
Prospect Elder Whittle LCL 5.8%
Fairly safe
Stirling Herbert Dunn LCL 6.6% v IND
Unley Colin Dunnage LCL 7.8%
Safe
Onkaparinga Howard Shannon LCL 11.1%
Burra George Hawker LCL 11.3%
Glenelg Baden Pattinson LCL 12.3%
Mitcham Henry Dunks LCL 18.5%
Gouger Rufus Goldney LCL 20.5%
Newcastle George Jenkins LCL 21.3%
Angas Berthold Teusner LCL 25.9% v IND
Albert Malcolm McIntosh LCL unopposed
Alexandra David Brookman LCL unopposed
Burnside Geoffrey Clarke LCL unopposed
Eyre Arthur Christian LCL unopposed
Flinders Rex Pearson LCL unopposed
Gumeracha Thomas Playford LCL unopposed
Light Herbert Michael LCL unopposed
Rocky River James Heaslip LCL unopposed
Yorke Peninsula Cecil Hincks LCL unopposed
Young Robert Nicholls LCL unopposed
Labor seats (12)
Marginal
Murray Richard McKenzie ALP 0.8%
Gawler Leslie Duncan ALP 4.2%
Goodwood Frank Walsh ALP 4.5%
Fairly safe
Adelaide Sam Lawn ALP 6.5% v IND
Wallaroo Hughie McAlees ALP 8.1%
Safe
Semaphore Harold Tapping ALP 30.5% v IND
Port Adelaide James Stephens ALP 40.2% v COM
Stuart Lindsay Riches ALP 42.8% v COM
Port Pirie Charles Davis ALP undistributed
Frome Mick O'Halloran ALP unopposed
Hindmarsh Cyril Hutchens ALP unopposed
Thebarton Fred Walsh ALP unopposed
Crossbench seats (4)
Stanley Percy Quirke IND 10.0% v LCL
Chaffey William MacGillivray IND 10.7% v LCL
Mount Gambier John Fletcher IND 14.4% v ALP
Ridley Tom Stott IND unopposed

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1950 General Election - Formed the 33rd Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 266–269. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
  2. ^ a b Tilby Stock, Jenny (1996). "The 'Playmander', Its origins, operation and effect on South Australia". In O'Neil, Bernard; Raftery, Judith; Round, Kerrie (eds.). Playford's South Australia: essays on the history of South Australia, 1933-1968. Association of Professional Historians. pp. 73–90. ISBN 9780646290928 – via Professional Historians Association (South Australia).
  3. ^ "Playford Government's Convincing Win". The Cairns Post. 6 March 1950. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "Mr. Playford's Fourth Election Victory". The Advertiser. 6 March 1950. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.
  5. ^ "L.-C.P. Win S.A. Elections". The Examiner. 6 March 1950. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove. In Stanley electorate Mr.Quirke, sitting Labour member, who was expelled from-the party during the last Parliamentary session, but stood again as Independent, appears certain to defeat the Official Labour nominee, Mr, Hasse.
  6. ^ "No Seat Was Lost in S.A. Poll". The Argus. 6 March 1950. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove. The two Independent sitting members, Mr. MacGillvray (Chaffey) and Mr. Quirke (Stanley) were hard pressed to retain their seats.
  7. ^ "Summary of 1950 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

External links

Elections and referendums in South Australia
Categories