Western Australian colonial election, 1897

← 1894

27 April – 26 May 1897

1901 →

All 44 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

	First party	Second party

Leader	John Forrest	George Leake
Party	Ministerialist	Oppositionist
Leader since	22 December 1890	1895
Leader's seat	Bunbury	Albany
Last election	19 seats	13 seats
Seats won	29 seats	8 seats
Seat change	10	5
Percentage	49.80%	27.35%

Premier before election

John Forrest
Ministerialist

Elected Premier

John Forrest
Ministerialist

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia between 27 April and 26 May 1897 to elect 44 members to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The Ministerialist group led by John Forrest won a third term in office as a result of the elections. The poll took place based on boundaries established in the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1896, which increased the number of members from 33 mainly by adding new seats in the Goldfields region, and had been called a year earlier than was necessary. In 18 of the 44 seats, only one candidate nominated and polls were not held.

As payment of members was not introduced until 1900, the Political Labour Party, formed in 1896, had found it difficult to attract candidates who could afford to enter Parliament, but three of its candidates ran for election, and Charles Oldham, a former president of the Trades and Labor Council, became the first Labour member of Parliament in Western Australia.

Western Australian state election, 1897
Legislative Assembly

Notes:

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