1936 Western Australian state election

1936 Western Australian state election

15 February 1936
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
First party Second party Third party   Leader Philip Collier Charles Latham Norbert Keenan Party Labor Country Nationalist Leader since 16 April 1917 12 April 1930 24 April 1933 Leader's seat Boulder York Nedlands Last election 30 seats 12 seats 8 seats Seats won 26 seats 13 seats 8 seats Seat change 4 1 0 Percentage 42.33% 14.60% 32.36% Swing 3.15 0.32 1.83
Premier before election Philip Collier Labor Elected Premier Philip Collier Labor

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 15 February 1936 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Labor Party, led by Premier Philip Collier, won a second term in office against the Country and Nationalist parties, led by Opposition Leader Charles Latham and Norbert Keenan respectively.

No sitting MLA's retired at this election. This was one of the few elections in which the Labor party allowed more than one candidate to run against a sitting MP, namely in the seat of Kalgoorlie. James Cunningham was defeated by fellow Labor candidate Herbert Styants, and Cunningham transferred to the Australian Senate the following year.

Results

See also: Results of the Western Australian state election, 1936 (Legislative Assembly)

At the election, 5 sitting members (four Labor and one Nationalist) were defeated—three of them by independents. In Maylands, one-term MLA Robert Clothier (Labor) was defeated by independent Nationalist Harry Shearn, who won with preferences from two endorsed nationalists. In East Perth, Minister for Employment and Labour James Kenneally was defeated by former Labor member Thomas Hughes, and the Nationalist member for Nelson, John Henry Smith, was defeated by independent Clarence Doust. The remaining seats, Subiaco and Albany, were lost by Labor to the Nationalist and Country parties respectively.

Western Australian state election, 15 February 1936 Legislative Assembly << 1933–1939 >>
Enrolled voters		194,354[1]
Votes cast		136,309		Turnout	70.13%	–20.47%
Informal votes		1,518		Informal	1.11%	–1.12%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	57,055	42.33%	–3.15%	26	– 4
	Nationalist	43,619	32.36%	+1.83%	8	± 0
	Country	19,685	14.60%	+0.32%	13	+ 1
	Ind. Nat.	3,418	2.54%	+1.33%	1	+ 1
	Social Credit	1,385	1.03%	+1.03%	0	± 0
	Communist	118	0.09%	–0.16%	0	± 0
	Independent	9,431	7.00%	–1.21%	2	+ 2
Total		134,791			50

¹ 247,465 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 15 of the 50 seats were uncontested—10 Labor seats representing 33,038 enrolled voters, 1 Nationalist seat representing 3,933 voters and 4 Country seats representing 16,284 voters.

See also

• Candidates of the 1936 Western Australian state election
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1933–1936
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1936–1939
• Second Collier Ministry