The 1990 Maylands state by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the seat of Maylands in the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

held on 26 May 1990. It was triggered by the resignation of

Peter Dowding Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who served as the 24th Premier of Western Australia, from 25 February 1988 until his forced resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parli ...

(the sitting

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member and former

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

) on 26 April 1990. The Labor Party retained Maylands at the election, albeit with a reduced majority.

Judy Edwards Judith Mary Edwards (born 10 April 1955) in Beverley, Western Australia is an Australian politician. She was the ALP member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from May 1990 to September 2008, representing the electorate of Mayland ...

, a general practitioner based in

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, secured 55.57 percent of the

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

vote. Edwards became only the second woman to win election to the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

at a by-election, after

May Holman Mary Alice "May" Holman (18 July 1893 – 20 March 1939) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1925 until her death in 1939. She was th ...

in 1925. The election occurred on the same day as the

1990 Fremantle state by-election The 1990 Fremantle state by-election was a by-election held on 26 May 1990 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Fremantle. The election occurred on the same day as the 1990 Maylands state by-election. The by-election was trigg ...

Background

had held Maylands for the Labor Party since the 1986 state election, when he transferred from the Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly. He replaced Brian Burke as leader of the Labor Party (and thus as premier) in February 1988, and led the party to victory at the 1989 election. However, Dowding was forced to resign as premier in February 1990 after losing the confidence of the Labor partyroom, having been caught up in the WA Inc. scandal. He quit parliament a few months later, on 26 April. The writ for the by-election was issued on the same day, with the close of nominations on 4 May. Polling day was on 26 May, with the writ returned on 6 June.

Results

Aftermath

Edwards retained Maylands until her retirement at the 2008 state election, and served as a minister in the government of

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

.Judith (Judy) Mary Edwards
Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 3 October 2016.

References

{{Reflist Western Australian state by-elections 1990 elections in Australia 1990s in Perth, Western Australia

Background

Results

Aftermath

See also

References