1953 South Australian state election

1953 South Australian state election
All 39 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly ; 20 seats were needed for a majority
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 7 March 1953. 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]

Background

Labor won three seats, metropolitan Norwood and Prospect and rural Victoria from the LCL.^[3] The LCL won one seat, rural Murray from Labor.^[4] Neither major party contested the independent-held seat of Ridley.^[1]^[2]

The Labor opposition won 53 percent of the statewide two-party vote, but the LCL retained government with the assistance of the Playmander − an electoral malapportionment that also saw a clear majority of the statewide two-party vote won by Labor while failing to form government in 1944, 1962 and 1968.^[1]^[2]

Results

South Australian state election, 7 March 1953^[5] House of Assembly << 1950–1956 >>
Enrolled voters		354,273
Votes cast		336,592		Turnout	95.01%	+1.86%
Informal votes		9,871		Informal	2.93%	–0.40%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	166,517	50.97%	+2.88%	14	+ 2
	Liberal and Country	119,106	36.45%	–4.05%	21	– 2
	Communist	4,827	1.48%	+0.14%	0	± 0
	Independent	36,271	11.10%	+1.03%	4	± 0
Total		326,721			39
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal and Country		47.00%	–4.30%
	Labor		53.00%	+4.30%

The primary vote figures were from contested seats, while the state-wide two-party-preferred vote figures were estimated from all seats.^[6]

Post-election pendulum

LCL seats (21)
Marginal
Unley	Colin Dunnage	LCL	0.3%
Murray	Hector White	LCL	0.5%
Glenelg	Baden Pattinson	LCL	0.7%
Torrens	John Travers	LCL	1.3%
Fairly safe
Gouger	Rufus Goldney	LCL	6.1%
Onkaparinga	Howard Shannon	LCL	7.0%
Flinders	Glen Pearson	LCL	8.4%
Burra	George Hawker	LCL	9.4%
Light	Herbert Michael	LCL	9.5%
Safe
Newcastle	George Jenkins	LCL	13.7%
Burnside	Geoffrey Clarke	LCL	16.1%
Eyre	Arthur Christian	LCL	17.8% v IND
Angas	Berthold Teusner	LCL	18.1% v IND
Gumeracha	Thomas Playford	LCL	40.4% v COM
Albert	Malcolm McIntosh	LCL	undistributed
Stirling	William Jenkins	LCL	undistributed
Alexandra	David Brookman	LCL	unopposed
Mitcham	Henry Dunks	LCL	unopposed
Rocky River	James Heaslip	LCL	unopposed
Yorke Peninsula	Cecil Hincks	LCL	unopposed
Young	Robert Nicholls	LCL	unopposed

Labor seats (15)
Marginal
Victoria	Jim Corcoran	ALP	0.8%
Prospect	Joe Jennings	ALP	3.4%
Fairly safe
Norwood	Don Dunstan	ALP	6.3%
Safe
Stanley	Percy Quirke	ALP	11.9%
Goodwood	Frank Walsh	ALP	13.1%
Gawler	John Clark	ALP	27.1% v IND
Semaphore	Harold Tapping	ALP	37.6% v IND
Adelaide	Sam Lawn	ALP	39.5% v COM
Stuart	Lindsay Riches	ALP	39.8% v COM
Port Adelaide	James Stephens	ALP	41.9% v COM
Port Pirie	Charles Davis	ALP	undistributed
Frome	Mick O'Halloran	ALP	unopposed
Hindmarsh	Cyril Hutchens	ALP	unopposed
Thebarton	Fred Walsh	ALP	unopposed
Wallaroo	Hughie McAlees	ALP	unopposed
Crossbench seats (3)
Mount Gambier	John Fletcher	IND	4.3% v ALP
Chaffey	William MacGillivray	IND	19.1% v LCL
Ridley	Tom Stott	IND	27.8% v IND

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1953 General Election - Formed the 34th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 270–273. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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).
^ "Fate of Govern. in Doubt in Swing to Labor: LCL Appears Certain to Lose at least Three Seats". The Mail. 7 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.
^ "Absolute Majority for Government: L.C.L. Candidate Wins Murray Seat". The Advertiser. 14 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.
^ "Summary of 1953 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
^ Two-party preferred figures since 1950, ABC News Online

[ecsa-1] Jaensch, Dean (March 2007). "The 1953 General Election - Formed the 34th Parliament". History of South Australian elections 1857-2006: House of Assembly, Volume 1. State Electoral Office South Australia. pp. 270–273. ISBN 9780975048634. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015 – via Electoral Commission of South Australia.

[playmander-2] 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] "Fate of Govern. in Doubt in Swing to Labor: LCL Appears Certain to Lose at least Three Seats". The Mail. 7 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.

[4] "Absolute Majority for Government: L.C.L. Candidate Wins Murray Seat". The Advertiser. 14 March 1953. Retrieved 13 January 2016 – via Trove.

[5] "Summary of 1953 Election". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

[6] Two-party preferred figures since 1950, ABC News Online

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1953 South Australian state election

Background

Results

Post-election pendulum

See also

Notes

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