View source for List of Western Australian Legislative Assembly elections

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
This article provides a summary of results for '''elections''' to the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]], the [[lower house]] in [[Western Australia]]'s [[bicameral]] [[States and territories of Australia|state]] legislative body, the [[Parliament of Western Australia]], which came into being in 1890 when Western Australia achieved [[Responsible government|responsible]] [[self-government]]. The number of seats has increased over time, from 30 at its [[1890 Western Australian colonial election|first election]], to the current total of 59 seats. Western Australian politics were initially non-partisan, with individual Members of Parliament choosing to align either with the Government or the Opposition. This began to change in the [[1901 Western Australian state election|1901 election]] with the election of six [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]] members, and then with Labor attaining outright victory in the [[1904 Western Australian state election|1904 election]]. By 1911, a rival party to Labor had emerged in the [[centre-right]] [[Western Australian Liberal Party (1911–1917)|Liberal Party of Western Australia]], which many of the former independents had joined.<ref>{{cite book|title=The House on the Hill: A history of the Parliament of Western Australia|editor=Black, David|last=de Garis|first=Brian|chapter=Self-Government and the Emergence of Political Parties 1890–1911|year=1991|isbn=0-7309-3983-9|publisher=Parliament of Western Australia|pages=81–82}}</ref> This entity evolved into the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist Party]] and eventually into the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal Party]] in 1944.<ref>{{cite Q |Q125995168 |mode=cs1 |last=Black |first=David |author-link=David Black (historian) |chapter=The Era of Labor Ascendancy 1924–1947 |page=439 }}</ref>

The chart below shows the information graphically, with the most recent results on the right. It shows the popularity in terms of seats won, of the [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor Party]] (red) and the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist Party]] and its predecessors (mid-blue) in the first half of the 20th century, as well as the emergence of the [[National Party of Australia (WA)|Country Party]] (green) in 1914, with whom the Nationalists and later the Liberals formed a coalition in order to form government. Two distinct periods were characterised by one party or coalition's dominance—the Labor Party won six of the seven elections between [[1924 Western Australian state election|1924]] and [[1947 Western Australian state election|1947]], and the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal Party]] (dark blue) in coalition with the Country Party won seven of the eight elections between [[1959 Western Australian state election|1959]] and [[1983 Western Australian state election|1983]]. Occasional internal splits within the Country Party, now known as the Nationals, are also shown on the chart in differing shades of green.

{| 
|-
| [[File:WA Elections.png|530px]]
| width=30 | &nbsp;
|
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan=5 align=center|Party colour key
|-
|width=5 {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
|width=105|[[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal]]
|width=5 {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
|width=105|[[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]]
|-
|bgcolor=#007FE0| ||[[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]];<br />[[Western Australian Liberal Party (1911–1917)|Liberal]] (1911–1917)
|bgcolor=#E2725B| ||[[Nationalist Party of Australia|National Labor]]
|-
|bgcolor=#00CCFF| ||Ministerialist
|{{Australian party style|Nationals}} rowspan=2| || rowspan=2 |[[The Nationals Western Australia|National]];<br />National Country;<br />Country<ref name=national_table>In 1923, the Country Party split into the Ministerial Country Party (MCP), with 15 members, and the Executive Country Party (ECP), with 3. At the 1924 election, the MCP won 7 seats and the ECP won 6—subsequently, the MCP merged with the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalists]] while the ECP reverted to the name Country Party. In 1978, a disagreement between those favouring coalition with the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberals]] and those favouring independence resulted in the latter group splitting to form the National Party, while the original party remained as the National Country Party. In 1984, the two parties reunited, although the three NCP members ultimately joined the Liberal Party, with two of them losing to endorsed Nationals at the 1986 election. The Executive Country (1924) and National (1978–1984) parties are shaded light green in this list.</ref>
|-
|bgcolor=#99CCFF| ||Oppositionist
|-
|bgcolor=#E0E0FF| ||[[Independent (politician)|Independent]]
|bgcolor=#40FF40| ||Other<ref name=national_table/>
|}
|}

==Summary of results==
The table below shows the total number of seats won by the major political parties at each election. The totals of the winning party or coalition are shown in bold, while other parties in government are shown in bold italic. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

{| class="toccolours" style="margin:0 auto; clear:both;" border=0
|- style="background:#ccf"
! rowspan=2 | Election
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Date
! width=55 rowspan=2 | Total seats
! width=55 | [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]] 
! width=60 | [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal]] {{ref label|NAT|A|A}}
! width=90 | [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]] {{ref label|NAT|B|B}}
! width=75 | [[National Party of Australia (WA)|Country/ National]] {{ref label|CP|C|C}}
! width=60 | [[National Labor Party|Nat. Lab.]] {{ref label|NLP|D|D}}
! width=80 | Independent
! colspan="2" | Other Parties
|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} height=6 |
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| {{Australian party style|Nationals}} |
| {{Australian party style|National Labor}} |
| {{Australian party style|Independent}} |
| {{Australian party style|Other}} colspan=2 |
|-
! width=45 | [[2021 Western Australian state election|41st]]
| align="right"  | 13 March 2021
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} width=3 |
| align="center" | 59
| align="center" | '''53'''
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 4
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|-
! width=45 | [[2017 Western Australian state election|40th]]
| align="right"  | 11 March 2017
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} width=3 |
| align="center" | 59
| align="center" | '''41'''
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|-
! width=45 | [[2013 Western Australian state election|39th]]
| align="right"  | 9 March 2013
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} width=3 |
| align="center" | 59
| align="center" | 21
| align="center" | '''31'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|-
! width=45 | [[2008 Western Australian state election|38th]]
| align="right"  | 6 September 2008
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} width=3 |
| align="center" | 59
| align="center" | 28
| align="center" | '''24'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 4
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
|-
! width=45 | [[2005 Western Australian state election|37th]]
| align="right"  | 26 February 2005
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} width=3 |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | '''32'''
| align="center" | 18
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[2001 Western Australian state election|36th]]
| align="right"  | 10 February 2001
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | '''32'''
| align="center" | 16
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 4
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1996 Western Australian state election|35th]]
| align="right"  | 14 December 1996
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | 19
| align="center" | '''29'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''6'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1993 Western Australian state election|34th]]
| align="right"  | 6 February 1993
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | 24
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''6'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1989 Western Australian state election|33rd]]
| align="right"  | 4 February 1989
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | '''31'''
| align="center" | 20
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 6
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1986 Western Australian state election|32nd]]
| align="right"  | 8 February 1986
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | '''32'''
| align="center" | 19
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 6
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1983 Western Australian state election|31st]]
| align="right"  | 19 February 1983
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 57
| align="center" | '''32'''
| align="center" | 20
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | National {{ref label|CP|C|C}}
|-
! [[1980 Western Australian state election|30th]]
| align="right"  | 23 February 1980
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 55
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''3'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | National {{ref label|CP|C|C}}
|-
! [[1977 Western Australian state election|29th]]
| align="right"  | 19 February 1977
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 55
| align="center" | 22
| align="center" | '''27'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''6'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1974 Western Australian state election|28th]]
| align="right"  | 30 March 1974
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 51
| align="center" | 22
| align="center" | '''23'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''6'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1971 Western Australian state election|27th]]
| align="right"  | 20 February 1971
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 51
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" | 17
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" |
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1968 Western Australian state election|26th]]
| align="right"  | 23 March 1968
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 51
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | '''19'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''9'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1965 Western Australian state election|25th]]
| align="right"  | 20 February 1965
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 21
| align="center" | '''21'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''8'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1962 Western Australian state election|24th]]
| align="right"  | 31 March 1962
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 24
| align="center" | '''18'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''8'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1959 Western Australian state election|23rd]]
| align="right"  | 21 March 1959
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | '''17'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''8'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1956 Western Australian state election|22nd]]
| align="right"  | 7 April 1956
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''29'''
| align="center" | 11
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1953 Western Australian state election|21st]]
| align="right"  | 14 February 1953
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 9
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1950 Western Australian state election|20th]]
| align="right"  | 25 March 1950
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | '''15'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''9'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1947 Western Australian state election|19th]]
| align="right"  | 15 March 1947
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | '''13'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | '''12'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1943 Western Australian state election|18th]]
| align="right"  | 20 November 1943
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''30'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 10
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1939 Western Australian state election|17th]]
| align="right"  | 18 March 1939
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''27'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 12
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 4
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1936 Western Australian state election|16th]]
| align="right"  | 15 February 1936
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 3
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1933 Western Australian state election|15th]]
| align="right"  | 8 April 1933
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''30'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 12
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1930 Western Australian state election|14th]]
| align="right"  | 26 March 1930
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | '''16'''
| align="center" | '''10'''
| align="center" |
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1927 Western Australian state election|13th]]
| align="right"  | 26 March 1927
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''27'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 16
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1924 Western Australian state election|12th]]
| align="right"  | 22 March 1924
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''27'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 9
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 7<br />6
| align="center" | MCP<br />ECP<ref name=national_table/>
|-
! [[1921 Western Australian state election|11th]]
| align="right"  | 12 March 1921
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 16
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | '''10'''
| align="center" | '''16'''
| align="center" | '''''6'''''
| align="center" | 2
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1917 Western Australian state election|10th]]
| align="right"  | 29 September 1917
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | '''16'''
| align="center" | '''12'''
| align="center" | '''''6'''''
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1914 Western Australian state election|9th]]
| align="right"  | 21 October 1914
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''26'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 16
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1911 Western Australian state election|8th]]
| align="right"  | 3 October 1911
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''34'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 16
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1908 Western Australian state election|7th]]
| align="right"  | 11 September 1908
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 22
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | '''28'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1905 Western Australian state election|6th]]
| align="right"  | 27 October 1905
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 15
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | '''35'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
! [[1904 Western Australian state election|5th]]
| align="right"  | 28 June 1904
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} |
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | '''22'''
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 19
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 9
| align="center" | 
| align="center" |
|-
|}

===Elections prior to political parties===
Until the 1904 election, most candidates did not belong to political parties. However, some candidates declared their support for the administration of the time, while others declared their opposition to it. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

{| class="toccolours" style="margin:0 auto; clear:both;" border=0
|- style="background:#ccf"
! width=40 | Election
! width=110 | Date
! width=40 | Seats
! width=80 | Government
! width=80 | Opposition
! width=80 | Independent
! width=60 | Labor
|-
! [[1901 Western Australian state election|4th]]
| align="right"  | April 1901
| align="center" | 50
| align="center" | 19
| align="center" | 20
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 6
|-
! [[1897 Western Australian colonial election|3rd]]
| align="right"  | May 1897
| align="center" | 44
| align="center" | 29
| align="center" | 8
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 
|-
! [[1894 Western Australian colonial election|2nd]]
| align="right"  | June 1894
| align="center" | 33
| align="center" | 19
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 
|-
! [[1890 Western Australian colonial election|1st]]
| align="right"  | December 1890
| align="center" | 30
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 
| align="center" | 30
| align="center" | 
|-
|}

===Notes===
: {{note label|LIB|A|A}} The Liberal Party was known as the Liberal and Country League from 1949 until 1968.
: {{note label|NAT|B|B}} Includes results for the [[Western Australian Liberal Party (1911–1917)|Western Australian Liberal Party]] from 1911 until 1917, and the Ministerial Party from 1904 until 1911.
: {{note label|CP|C|C}} The party was known as the Country Party (1914–1946; 1962–1973), Country and Democratic League (1946–1962), National Alliance (1974), National Country Party (1975–1984) and National Party (1984–present). A separate National Party existed from 1978–1984 and is shown under "Other Parties".
: {{note label|NLP|D|D}} The National Labor Party were a split from the Labor Party which sat in coalition with the Nationalists between 1917 and 1924.

==Interpretation issues==
Two features of the Western Australian electoral system are worthy of note in interpreting election results. The first is that until the [[1974 Western Australian state election|1974 election]], many seats in both houses were [[walkover|uncontested]]—usually more than one-quarter of all seats on offer.<ref>Black, p. 110.</ref>{{full citation needed |date=January 2025}} Since 1974, only three seats have been uncontested—that being the seats of [[Electoral district of Collie|Collie]] and [[Electoral district of East Melville|East Melville]] in the [[1980 Western Australian state election|1980 election]], when the rival party's candidates missed the nomination deadline and hence could not stand, and the seat of [[Electoral district of Narrogin|Narrogin]] in the [[1983 Western Australian state election|1983 election]].

The second feature is [[malapportionment]], which until 2008 was a significant feature of the Western Australian political landscape. Seats in metropolitan and rural areas did not contain the same number of electors—as at 30 September 2007, a Member of the Legislative Assembly represented either 28,519 metropolitan voters within the [[Metropolitan Region Scheme]] area, or 14,551 country voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/download/September%20enrolment%20statistics%202.pdf |title=September enrolment statistics |author=Western Australian Electoral Commission |date=30 September 2007 |accessdate=15 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722024823/http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/download/September%20enrolment%20statistics%202.pdf |archivedate=22 July 2008 }}</ref> This was believed to disproportionately favour the Nationals in terms of parliamentary representation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2005/guide/electoralsystem.htm|title=WA: A Peculiar Electoral System|last=Green|first=Antony|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=17 November 2004|accessdate=19 January 2008}}</ref> Reforms enacted in 2005 which took effect at the [[2008 Western Australian state election|2008 election]] produced an average district enrolment of 21,350, which applied to all but five of the 59 districts created in the 2007 redistribution. An allowance remained for particularly large districts—those of {{convert|100000|km2|sqmi}} or more, located in the north and east of the State—in the form of a Large District Allowance.<ref>''Electoral Act 1907'' (WA), s.[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_act/ea1907103/s16g.html 16G] (as added by No.1 of 2005, s.4.)</ref>

==See also==
*[[Electoral results for the Australian Senate in Western Australia]]
==References==
{{reflist |30em}}

==See also==
* [[List of Western Australian state by-elections]]
* [[Electoral districts of Western Australia]]
* [[Timeline of Australian elections]]

{{Western Australian elections}}

[[Category:Elections in Western Australia| Assembly]]
[[Category:Western Australia-related lists|Legislative Assembly election]]
[[Category:Lists of elections in Australia|Western Australian Legislative Assembly elections]]
[[Category:Western Australian Legislative Assembly]]