1950 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 25 March 1950 to elect all 50 members to the Legislative Assembly. The Liberal-Country coalition government, led by Premier Ross McLarty, won a second term in office against the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Frank Wise.

1950 Western Australian state election

← 1947 25 March 1950 (1950-03-25) 1953 →
All 50 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Ross McLarty Frank Wise Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 14 December 1946 31 July 1945 Leader's seat Murray-Wellington Gascoyne Last election 25 seats 23 seats Seats won 24 seats 23 seats Seat change 1 0 Percentage 49.39% 41.85%
Premier before election Ross McLarty Liberal/Country coalition Resulting Premier Ross McLarty Liberal/Country coalition

The election took place after a major redistribution.

Key dates

Date	Event
8 February 1950	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
17 February 1950	Close of nominations in the North West area.
3 March 1950	Close of nominations in all other areas.
25 March 1950	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
6 April 1950	The McLarty–Watts Ministry was reconstituted.
14 April 1950	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Results

Western Australian state election, 25 March 1950 Legislative Assembly << 1947–1953 >>
Enrolled voters		247,589^[1]
Votes cast		229,298		Turnout	92.61%	+6.70%
Informal votes		4,534		Informal	1.98%	–0.07%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor	94,055	41.85%		23	± 0
	Liberal and Country	90,089	40.08%		15	+ 2
	Country	20,922	9.31%		9	– 3
	Ind. Lib.	5,059	2.25%		2	+ 1
	Communist	815	0.36%		0	± 0
	Independent	13,824	6.15%		1	± 0
Total		224,764			50

¹ 306,099 electors were enrolled to vote at the election, but 12 seats (24% of the total) were uncontested—6 Labor seats (9 less than 1947) representing 26,694 enrolled voters, 2 Liberal seats (the same as 1947) representing 13,278 enrolled voters, and 4 Country seats (two more than 1947) representing 18,538 enrolled voters. This change in distribution means that comparisons in vote percentages between 1947 and 1950 are largely meaningless; they have hence been omitted from the table.

See also

• Candidates of the 1950 Western Australian state election
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1947–1950
• Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 1950–1953