South Australian state election, 1905

South Australian state election, 1905

← 1902 27 May 1905 (1905-05-27) 1906 →
All 42 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 22 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Thomas Price Archibald Peake Richard Butler Party Labor Liberal Conservative Leader since 1899 1 March 1905 Leader's seat Torrens Victoria and Albert Barossa Last election 5 seats 17 seats Seats won 15 seats 11 seats Seat change 10 6 Percentage 41.3% 15.8% Swing 22.2 8.5
Premier before election Richard Butler Conservative Elected Premier Thomas Price Labor

Richard Butler
Conservative

Thomas Price
Labor

State elections were held in South Australia on 27 May 1905. All 42 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent conservative government led by Premier of South Australia Richard Butler in an informal coalition with the liberals was defeated by the United Labor Party (ULP) led by Leader of the Opposition Thomas Price. Each of the 13 districts elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.

The first ministry formed after the 1902 election by John Jenkins, who resigned prior to the 1905 election. Richard Butler took the parliament into the 1905 election. Prior to the election, a new party formed. The rural stockowners and graziers were concerned at the concentration of the Australasian National League (ANL) on the metropolitan electorates and urban issues. In 1905, these interests formed the Farmers and Producers Political Union (FPPU), which had a conservative political agenda, and was absolutely opposed to franchise reform. It was essentially the rural wing of the ANL. There were four distinct blocs at the election, with the over-riding issue that of franchise reform for the Legislative Council: the ULP, a liberal group of franchise reformers led by Archibald Peake, the Butler moderate conservatives with some FPPU support, and an "extreme conservative" group led by John Darling at the core of the ANL. There was no "Liberal" party, but there was a relatively cohesive liberal group among both independent members and candidates. The Liberal and Democratic Union would not be formed until the 1906 election.

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