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All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 78.91 ( 7.30
pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 5 February 1908 to elect the 72 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election, held less than 9 months after the previous election, was made necessary by a series of events which had seen former Premier William Kidston, who commanded a majority on the floor of the Assembly, resign following an attempt to convince the Governor of Queensland to appoint sympathetic members to the Queensland Legislative Council, which had blocked key legislative measures. Following Kidston's resignation, Opposition leader Robert Philp was sent for and formed a ministry, but the ministry almost immediately lost a vote of no confidence in the Assembly, and as such, a new election had to be called.
Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 12 November 1907 | Premier William Kidston resigned, and Robert Philp was sent for to form a ministry. |
| 19 November 1907 | The First Kidston Ministry resigned, and the Second Philp Ministry was sworn in. |
| 31 December 1907 | The Parliament was dissolved. [1] |
| 3 January 1908 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. [2] |
| 15 January 1908 | Close of nominations. |
| 5 February 1908 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 18 February 1908 | The Second Philp Ministry resigned and the Second Kidston Ministry was sworn in. [3] |
| 26 February 1908 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
| 3 March 1908 | Parliament resumed for business. [4] |
Results
The Kidstonites contested only 32 of the 72 seats, compared to 55 at the previous election.
|
Queensland state election, 5 February 1908
[5] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrolled voters | 175,823 [1] | |||||
| Votes cast | 138,747 | Turnout | 78.91 | +7.30 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,466 | Informal | 1.06 | –0.61 | ||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Conservative | 75,563 | 40.37 | –0.21 | 22 | – 7 | |
| Labour | 55,771 | 29.80 | +3.41 | 22 | + 4 | |
| Kidstonites | 44,997 | 24.04 | –7.84 | 25 | + 1 | |
| Farmers Rep. | 6,749 | 3.61 | +3.61 | 2 | + 2 | |
| Independent | 4,078 | 2.18 | +1.04 | 1 | ± 0 | |
| Total | 187,158 [2] | 72 | ||||
- 1 205,892 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 12 seats (16.7% of the total) representing 30,069 voters were uncontested—six Labor seats, five Conservatives and one Kidston.
- 2 In 11 electorates, voters had two votes each, so the total number of votes exceeds the total number of voters.
See also
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1907–1908
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1908–1909
- Second Philp Ministry
- Second Kidston Ministry
References
- ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 31 December 1907. p. 89:1529.
- ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 3 January 1908. p. 90:15.
- ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 18 February 1908. p. 90:455–457.
- ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 20 February 1908. p. 90:467.
- ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 5 February 1908". Retrieved 14 February 2009.
External links
