The 1856 Tasmanian colonial elections took place from 8 to 22 September 1856 (for the House of Assembly) and 6 to 17 October 1856 (for the Legislative Council). The elections were the first to be held under the ''Electoral Act 1856'', which established

responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

in Tasmania (until 1 January 1856 called

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

) and created a bicameral parliament consisting of the 30-member

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

and the 15-member

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, H ...

. Members were elected using

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

. Following the election,

William Champ William Thomas Napier Champ (15 April 1808 – 25 August 1892) was a soldier and politician who served as the first Premier of Tasmania from 1856 to 1857. He was born in the United Kingdom. Early life Champ was born in Maldon, Essex, England th ...

became the first

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the House of Assembly is invited by the governor of Ta ...

on 1 November 1856, but his government lasted only 117 days.

Results

House of Assembly

Elections for members of the House of Assembly took place between 8 and 22 September 1856. Members were elected from single-member 24 single-member divisions, while

Hobart Town Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

returned 5 members and Launceston returned 3 members. 16 members were elected unopposed, while the other members were elected using

References

{{Tasmanian elections 1856 elections in Australia Elections in Tasmania 19th century in Tasmania Colony of Tasmania

Results

House of Assembly

See also

References