1945 Prahran state by-election

1945 Prahran state by-election
18 August 1945
Electoral district of Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Registered32,442[1][2]
Turnout74.6% ( 8.7)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Bill Quirk Frank Collins Leslie Sampson
Party Labor Liberal Communist
Primary vote 11,143 9,078 1,896
Percentage 47.3% 38.5% 8.0%
Swing 9.2 10.6[a] 4.6
After preferences 50.1% 41.3% 8.7%
MP before election

John Ellis
Liberal

Elected MP

Bill Quirk
Labor

The 1945 Prahran state by-election was held on 18 August 1945 to elect the member for Prahran in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, following the death of Liberal Party MP John Ellis.[3] It was held on the same day as a New South Wales state by-election in Blacktown and a federal by-election in Fremantle.[4][5]

Labor candidate Bill Quirk gained the seat after a swing of more than 10% away from the Liberals.[a] Quirk retained the seat three months later at the state election in November 1945 and held it again in 1947, serving until his death in 1948.[6]

This was the first of three by-elections in Prahran held in a timeframe of six years, with by-elections also held in 1949 (to replace Quirk) and 1951.[7][8]

Key events

Candidates

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.[1][12]

Party Candidate Background
  Liberal Frank Collins Dairyman
  Independent William Harris Butcher[13]
  Labor Bill Quirk Postal technician
  Communist Leslie Sampson Organiser

Results

1945 Prahran state by-election[12][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Bill Quirk 11,143 47.3 +9.2
Liberal Frank Collins 9,078 38.5 −10.6[a]
Communist Leslie Sampson 1,896 8.0 −4.6
Independent William Harris 1,457 6.2 +6.2
Total formal votes 23,574 97.4 +0.6
Informal votes 639 2.6 −0.6
Turnout 24,213 74.6 −8.7
After distribution of preferences
Labor Bill Quirk 11,803 50.1
Liberal Frank Collins 9,731 41.3
Communist Leslie Sampson 2,040 8.7
Labor gain from Liberal Swing N/A

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c In March 1945, all parliamentary members of the Victorian branch of the United Australia Party (UAP) joined the newly-formed Liberal Party, and swings are compared with the UAP at the 1943 state election.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b "FOUR FOR PRAHRAN BY-ELECTION". The Herald. 3 August 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  2. ^ "FOUR NOMINATE FOR PRAHRAN BY-ELECTION". Army News. 7 August 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Both Sides Hopeful In Prahran Poll". The Herald. 17 August 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Labor Wins By-Election in Three States". Advocate. 20 August 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Labour's By-Election Victories". The Armidale Express and New England General Advertiser. 24 August 1945. p. 11. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  6. ^ "DEATH OF MR QUIRK, MLA". The Argus. 17 November 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  7. ^ "LABOR VICTORY IS CERTAIN IN PRAHRAN". Sunday Times. 23 January 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  8. ^ "LABOR WINS PRAHRAN BY-ELECTION". Border Morning Mail. 18 June 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  9. ^ "MR ELLIS, MLA, DIES". The Argus. 3 July 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Prahran By-Election". The Sun News-Pictorial. 19 July 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  11. ^ "PRAHRAN BY-ELECTION TODAY". The Argus. 18 August 1945. p. 10. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  12. ^ a b "THE THIRTY-FIFTH PARLIAMENT ELECTED 12 JUNE 1943". Psephos: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  13. ^ "HOUSING HITCH-HIKER TO CONTEST PRAHRAN". The Argus. 2 August 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  14. ^ "Labour Candidate's Win". The West Australian. 23 August 1945. p. 7. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  15. ^ "STATE UAP AND LIBERAL PARTY". The Argus. 5 March 1945. p. 4. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  16. ^ "STATE UAP NOW LIBERAL PARTY". The Argus. 6 March 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.