South Australian colonial election, 1893
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All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 28 seats were needed for a majority |
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Elections were held in the colony of South Australia from 15 April to 6 May 1893. All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election.
The incumbent conservative government led by Premier of South Australia John Downer was defeated by the liberal opposition led by Charles Kingston, with the support of the United Labor Party (ULP) led by John McPherson who formed an informal coalition. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. This was the first election in which parties and increasingly solid groupings were formed.
A United Trades and Labor Council meeting with the purpose of creating an elections committee was convened on 12 December 1890, and held on 7 January 1891. The elections committee was formed, officially named the United Labor Party of South Australia with McPherson the founding secretary. Later that year, the ULP enjoyed immediate success, electing David Charleston, Robert Guthrie and Andrew Kirkpatrick to the South Australian Legislative Council. A week later, Richard Hooper won the 1891 Wallaroo by-election as an Independent Labor member in the South Australian House of Assembly. McPherson won the 1892 East Adelaide by-election on 23 January, becoming the first official Labor leader and member of the House of Assembly. At the 1893 election, ten Labor candidates including McPherson and Hooper were elected to the 54-member House of Assembly which gave the ULP the balance of power. So successful, a decade later at the 1905 election, Thomas Price would form the world's first stable Labor government. John Verran led Labor to form the state's first of many majority governments at the 1910 election.
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