A general election for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

was held in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Labor Party under

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman ...

—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.

Issues

The incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

- Country Party coalition had lost its longtime leader, Sir Robert Askin, at the end of 1974. His successor, Tom Lewis, didn't last a year as premier before his colleagues dumped him in favour of

Eric Willis Sir Eric Archibald Willis (15 January 1922 – 10 May 1999) was an Australian politician, Cabinet Minister and the 34th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 23 January 1976 to 14 May 1976. Born in Murwillumbah in 1922, Willis was educated ...

. Wran successfully emerged from the shadow of the defeated Whitlam Labor government at a federal level. Labor's campaign focussed largely on the leader himself, what Australians call a "Presidential" style campaign. The state party had undergone a long process of renewal, and emerged with strong moderate credentials. Labor also offered an alternative to a long-serving government widely perceived as corrupt. Wran's campaign slogan, "Let's put the state in better shape," delivered by the leader and key spokesmen Peter Cox and

Syd Einfeld Sydney David Einfeld (17 June 1909 – 16 June 1995) was an Australian politician and Jewish community leader. Einfeld is credited with changing Australia's immigration policy to provide a refuge for Holocaust survivors. As a result, Austra ...

, resonated with voters.

Key dates

Results

The election was in doubt for several days. Ultimately, the seats of

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extr ...

and

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

fell to Labor by only 74 and 44 votes respectively. Had the Coalition retained these seats, it would have stayed in power with a one-seat majority. As it turned out, the loss of Gosford and Hurstville gave Wran a one-seat majority.

Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats. * In addition, Labor retained the seat of Coogee, which it had won from the Liberals at the 1974 by-election.

Post-election pendulum

Notes

References

{{New South Wales elections Elections in New South Wales 1976 elections in Australia 1970s in New South Wales May 1976 events in Australia