State elections were held in
South Australia on 2 April 1910. All 42 seats in the
South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent
Liberal and Democratic Union
The Liberal and Democratic Union (LDU) was a South Australian political party formed by early liberals, as opposed to the conservatives. It was formed in 1906 when liberal party structures were becoming more solid. Its leader, Archibald Peake, s ...
(LDU) government led by
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 ...
of South Australia
Archibald Peake
Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for its ...
was defeated by the
United Labor Party (ULP) led by
John Verran
John Verran (9 July 1856 – 7 June 1932) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He served as premier of South Australia from 1910 to 1912, the second member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to hold the position.
Verran was b ...
. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. The Peake LDU
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
had replaced the
Price ULP/LDU coalition government in June 1909. The 1910 election was the first to result in a South Australian
majority government
A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...
. This came two weeks after the election of a first majority in either house in the
Parliament of Australia at the
1910 federal election, also for Labor. Though a South Australian majority was won, the ULP did not take office until after the new lower house first met.
Background
Following the election, the LDU merged with the two
independent conservative parties – the
Australasian National League
The National Defence League (NDL) was an independent conservative political party, founded in 1891 by MLC Richard Baker in South Australia as an immediate response to the perceived threat from Labor. Though renamed the Australasian National Lea ...
(ANL, formerly National Defence League (NDL)) and the
Farmers and Producers Political Union
The Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU) was an independent conservative agrarian political party founded in South Australia in reaction to Labor, keen to fend off a perceived threat to the FPPU's interests against a rising labour moveme ...
(FPPU) – to become the
Liberal Union (LU). The parties readily approved the merger, however, the LDU which salvaged the fewest of their principles from the merger were more hesitant. Peake persuaded a party conference that 'the day of the middle party is passed', and approved the merger by just one vote. The LU was affiliated with the federal
Commonwealth Liberal Party (CLP).
The two-seat
multi-member district of
Northern Territory was abolished in 1911, reducing the House of Assembly to 40 seats.
Results
* The three anti-Labor parties, the LDU, the ANL and the FPPU endorsed a shared "Liberal" slate of candidates in all but three Assembly seats and the Council, though they would not formally merge as the LU until late 1910, months after the election. The listed "Liberal" figure is for the three parties combined.
See also
*
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1910-1912
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
*
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1910–1912
This is a list of members of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1910 to 1912
It was the third Legislative Council to be fully determined by provisions of the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1901, (State) Constitution Act 779 of 1901, ...
References
History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSAState and federal election results
in Australia since 1890
External links
The 13 electorates from 1902 to 1915: The Adelaide Chronicle
{{South Australian elections
Elections in South Australia
1910 elections in Australia
1910s in South Australia
April 1910 events