1947 Victorian state election

The 1947 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday 8 November 1947 to elect 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election resulted in a landslide defeat for the Labor government of John Cain, which lost 14 seats and was reduced to 17, its lowest number since 1932.^[1] The opposition Liberal Party and Country Party won a combined total of 47 seats, with the Liberals alone capturing 27—a gain of 17—to become the largest party in the Assembly for the first time since the party's formation.^[1]

Quick facts All 65 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

1947 Victorian state election

← 1945 8 November 1947 (1947-11-08) 1950 →
All 65 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 33 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Thomas Hollway John McDonald John Cain Party Liberal Country Labor Leader since 3 December 1940 22 November 1945 18 October 1937 Leader's seat Ballarat Shepparton Northcote Last election 10 seats 18 seats 31 seats Seats won 27 seats 20 seats 17 seats Seat change 17 2 14 Percentage 37.16% 14.92% 40.87% Swing 16.65 4.05 0.15
Results in each electorate.
Premier before election John Cain Labor Elected Premier Thomas Hollway Liberal

Close

The campaign was dominated by federal issues, particularly the Chifley government's proposal to nationalise private banks.^[1] Opposition parties campaigned heavily against bank nationalisation, framing the state election as a referendum on the policy.^[1] Liberal leader Thomas Hollway, who became premier following the election, declared the result "the beginning of the fight against the Commonwealth Government" and pledged that the new government would "fight to the end to defeat Mr. Chifley's Bank Nationalisation programme."^[1] Country Party leader John McDonald interpreted the outcome as confirmation that "socialism is out for good in Victoria."^[1]

Three Labor ministers—Deputy Premier Frank Field, Minister of Mines William McKenzie, and Chief Secretary Bill Slater—lost their seats.^[1] Labor officials blamed attacks by federal and state Labor figures on former prisoners of war Adair Blain and Wilfrid Kent Hughes, both of whom stood as Liberal candidates, for contributing to the scale of the defeat.^[1] The election marked the end of Labor's brief minority government, which had relied on the support of two independents since the 1945 election.^[1] Both independents were among the earliest casualties on election night.^[1] Future premier Henry Bolte was first elected to Parliament at this election.^[2]