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1908 Queensland state election

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1908 Queensland state election
← 1907 5 February 1908 (1908-02-05) 1909 →
All 72 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
37 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout78.91 (Increase 7.30 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader William Kidston Robert Philp David Bowman
Party Kidstonites Conservative Labour
Leader since 19 January 1906 19 September 1904 15 April 1907
Leader's seat Rockhampton Townsville Fortitude Valley
Last election 24 seats, 31.88% 29 seats, 40.58% 18 seats, 26.39%
Seats won 25 22 22
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 7 Increase 4
Popular vote 44,997 75,563 55,771
Percentage 24.04% 40.37% 29.80%
Swing Decrease 7.84 Decrease 0.21 Increase 3.41
Premier before election

Robert Philp
Conservative

Resulting Premier

William Kidston
Kidston Party

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

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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

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The Kidstonites contested only 32 of the 72 seats, compared to 55 at the previous election.

Queensland state election, 5 February 1908[5]
Legislative Assembly
<< 1907–1909 >>

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

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References

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  1. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 31 December 1907. p. 89:1529.
  2. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 3 January 1908. p. 90:15.
  3. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 18 February 1908. p. 90:455–457.
  4. ^ "Untitled". Queensland Government Gazette. 20 February 1908. p. 90:467.
  5. ^ Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 5 February 1908". Retrieved 14 February 2009.
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