New South Wales state election, 1941

New South Wales state election, 1941

1938 ← 10 May 1941 (1941-05-10) → 1944

All 90 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.   First party Second party   Leader William McKell Alexander Mair Party Labor UAP/Country coalition Leader since 23 September 1939 5 August 1939 Leader's seat Redfern Albury Last election 28 seats 59 seats Seats won 54 seats 26 seats Seat change 26 33 Percentage 50.8% 31.3% Swing 16.0 18.3

Premier before election Alexander Mair UAP/Country coalition Elected Premier William McKell Labor

The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting.

The replacement of Jack Lang by William McKell as leader of the Labor Party in 1939 reunited and rejuvenated the party. A small number of Labor party members continued to support the far left wing State Labor Party (Hughes-Evans) but this had minimal impact on the election results. The party moved away from Lang's populist,inflationary policies which were seen as extremist by many voters in the middle ground of the political spectrum. McKell also improved the party's standing in rural electorates by personally selecting locally well-known candidates.

In contrast, the internal party divisions and lack of policy direction that had resulted in Alexander Mair replacing Bertram Stevens as leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) and Premier in August 1939 continued in the period prior to the election and throughout the course of the new parliament. These divisions were reflected in the sacking of Robert Menzies as the Prime Minister in August 1941 and the disintegration of the UAP at a state level in 1943. The remnant of the UAP combined with the newly formed Commonwealth Party to form the Democratic Party in that year. Mair remained Leader of the Opposition until 10 February 1944 when he was replaced by Reginald Weaver.

The result of the election was a landslide victory for the Labor Party:

• Australian Labor Party 54 seats
• Independent Labor 1 seat
• United Australia Party 14 seats
• Independent UAP 5 seats
• Country Party 12 seats
• Independent 4 seats.

The Labor Party government of McKell had a majority of 18 and McKell remained Premier throughout the term of the Parliament. The Labor Party won two further seats from the Country Party at by-elections during the parliament. Jack Lang was expelled from the Labor Party after persistently attacking the governments of McKell and John Curtin in 1943. He then remained in parliament as the sole representative of Lang Labor.

Key dates

Date	Event
18 April 1941	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
22 April 1941	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
10 May 1941	Polling day.
17 June 1941	Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared.
28 May 1941	Opening of 33rd Parliament.

Results

New South Wales state election, 10 May 1941 Legislative Assembly << 1938 — 1944 >>
Enrolled Voters		1,684,781[1]
Votes Cast		1,389,896		Turnout	92.52	-3.27
Informal Votes		35,858		Informal	2.52	-0.13
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	706,014	50.8	+16.0	54	+ 26
	United Australia	281,982	20.3	-15.5	14	–23
	Country	153,639	11.0	-2.8	12	-10
	State Labor	78,363	5.6	+5.6	0	-
	Independent UAP	45,195	3.3	+3.3	5	+5
	Independent Labor	29,677	2.1	+2.1	1	+1
	Independent	85,195	6.1	+4	4	+3
	All others	9,831	0.7		0	-
Total		1,389,896			90

¹ There were 1,540,974 enrolled voters in contested electorates and 143,807 were enrolled in 7 uncontested electorates (four UAP and three Labor).

References

• "Former members of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856-2006". New South Wales Parliament. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/V3ListFormerMembers. Retrieved 2009-01-11. 
• Antony Green. "NSW Elections Analysis". New South Wales Parliament. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/resources/nswelectionsanalysis/HomePage.htm. Retrieved 12 January 2009. 
• Nairn, Bede (1995)Jack Lang the 'Big Fella':Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891-1949

Melbourne University Press Melbourne ISBN 052284700

See also

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1941–1944