July 1919 Paddington state by-election
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The July 1919 Paddington state by-election was held on 26 July 1919 to elect the member for Paddington in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, following the death of Labor Party MP Lawrence O'Hara.[2][3]
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26 July 1919
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Electoral district of Paddington in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 11,419[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 26.9% ( 8.6) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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O'Hara had been elected just 21 days prior to his death at the May 1919 Paddington by-election.[4][5] He had not yet been sworn in as an MP and was attending the Labor conference the week before his death, but after leaving the conference he came down with influenza amid a global pandemic and died several days later.[6][7]
The July by-election was won by Labor's John Birt with a swing of 30% against an Australian Socialist Party candidate and an independent.[8][9]
Key events
- 14 June 1919 â Lawrence O'Hara died[10]
- 11 July 1919 â Writ of election issued by the Governor[a]
- 18 July 1919 â Candidate nominations
- 26 July 1919 â Polling day
- 2 August 1919 â Return of writ
Candidates
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | John Birt | President of the Paddington Labor League[12] | |
| Independent | James Jones | Artist and candidate at the May by-election[13] | |
| Socialist | Arthur Reardon | Secretary of the Australian Socialist Party[14][15][16] | |
Additionally, the Nationalist Party was expected to contest again (having received 22.1% of the vote at the May by-election) but this did not eventuate, with the party citing the circumstances of the by-election as its reason for not running.[17][18]
Result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | John Birt | 2,678 | 88.1 | +30.0 | |
| Socialist | Arthur Reardon | 208 | 6.8 | +6.8 | |
| Independent | James Jones | 153 | 5.0 | +4.6 | |
| Total formal votes | 3,039 | 99.1 | +0.4 | ||
| Informal votes | 28 | 0.9 | â0.4 | ||
| Turnout | 3,067 | 26.9 | â8.6 | ||
| Labor hold | Swing | N/A | |||
See also
Notes
- Ordinarily the writ for a by-election would be issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, however the position of Speaker was vacant since the resignation of John Cohen on 30 January 1919 and the writ was issued by Governor Sir Walter Edward Davidson instead.[11]