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 Subiaco 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 ...

was held on 10 November 1917. It was triggered by the death of the sitting member,

Bartholomew Stubbs Bartholomew James Stubbs (31 May 1872 – 26 September 1917) was the first sitting member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly to be killed in action while on military service for his country. Family background Stubbs was born on 31 ...

of the Labor Party, on 26 September 1917. The election was won by

Samuel Brown Samuel Brown may refer to: * Samuel Brown (Royal Navy officer) (1776–1852), English pioneer suspension bridge engineer and inventor * Samuel Brown (engineer) (died 1849), English inventor of early internal combustion engine * Samuel Brown (Wisco ...

, a member of the Subiaco Municipal Council who was standing for the Nationalist Party. Brown was one of six candidates endorsed by the Nationalists, and won the seat despite only polling 15.02 percent of the first-preference vote.

Background

, a prominent trade unionist, had held Subiaco for the Labor Party since defeating

Henry Daglish Henry Daglish (18 November 1866 – 16 August 1920) was an Australian politician who was the sixth premier of Western Australia and the first from the Labor Party, serving from 10 August 1904 to 25 August 1905. Daglish was born in Ballarat, V ...

(a 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 ...

) at the 1911 state election. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916, and was returned unopposed at the September 1917 state election, but was killed in action in Belgium the same month. The writ for the by-election was issued on 23 October 1917, with the close of nominations on 1 November. Polling day was on 10 November, with the writ returned on 13 November.

Results

Aftermath

Brown stood for re-election at the 1921 state election, but was defeated by Walter Richardson of the

National Labor Party The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Pri ...

after failing to make the final

two-candidate-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, ...

count. He committed suicide in August 1923.Samuel McConnell Brown
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017."VERDICT OF SUICIDE"
''The Daily News'', 7 September 1923.

References

{{Reflist Western Australian state by-elections 1917 elections in Australia November 1917 events 1910s in Western Australia

Background

Results

Aftermath

See also

References