The 1914 Victorian state election was held in the
Australian state
The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
on Thursday, 26 November 1914 to elect 49 of the 65 members of the state's
Legislative Assembly.
[Colin A Hughes, ''A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890–1964'', Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 ().]
Background
Politics in the state of Victoria in the previous decade had been a 3-way contest between the Conservative, Liberal and Labor parties. Following the example of the federal party, the Conservative and Liberal factions in Victoria united to form the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. This new party dominated politics in the state, forming government with a majority of 43 of 65 seats in the
previous election, although a new divide formed between city and rural based MPs.
This divide resulted in a
no confidence motion
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
being passed to the government of
William Watt, when the rural based Liberal MPs and the opposition Labor MPs defeated the government in December 1913. To much surprise,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
appointed the opposition Labor party under
George Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie (February 20, 1869 – April 23, 1952) was a Scottish-born American Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States. He worked with Louis Sullivan and later with William Gray Purcell as ...
to government, although it was impossible to retain its position due to its minority in numbers, and that the law at the time stated that new ministers had to recontest their seats at by-elections.
Watt returned as
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 22 December 1913, and remained until he resigned in June 1914 to enter Federal politics. He was replaced by former Premier
Alexander Peacock
Sir Alexander James Peacock (11 June 1861 – 7 October 1933) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Premier of Victoria.
Early Years
Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born after ...
. A month later,
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out. Peacock's administration enthusiastically contributed to the war, and was seeking reelection on this basis.
Results
Legislative Assembly
Notes:
*Sixteen seats were uncontested at this election, and were retained by the incumbent parties:
**Liberal (7):
Allandale,
Borung,
Dandenong
Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...
,
Gippsland South,
Gippsland West,
Gunbower,
Lowan,
**Labor (9):
Abbotsford,
Albert Park,
Carlton
Carlton may refer to:
People
* Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname
* Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy
* Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
,
Collingwood,
Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
,
Flemington,
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...
,
Williamstown
See also
*
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, 1914–1917
This is a list of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly as elected at the 15 November 1914 election and subsequent by-elections up to the election of 15 November 1917:
: Hampson resigned in January 1915; replaced by Luke Clough in Fe ...
*
Candidates of the 1914 Victorian state election
References
{{Victorian elections
1914 elections in Australia
Elections in Victoria (Australia)
1910s in Victoria (Australia)
November 1914 events