1941 Tasmanian state election

1941 Tasmanian state election

← 1937 13 December 1941 1946 →

All 30 seats to the House of Assembly
  First party Second party
 
Leader Robert Cosgrove Henry Baker
Party Labor Nationalist
Leader since 18 December 1939 8 May 1936
Leader's seat Denison Franklin
Last election 18 seats 12 seats
Seats won 20 seats 10 seats
Seat change Increase2 Decrease2
Percentage 62.59% 36.58%
Swing Increase3.92 Decrease2.28

Results of the election

Premier before election

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

Elected Premier

Robert Cosgrove
Labor

The 1941 Tasmanian state election was held on 13 December 1941 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.

The Labor Party had won the 1937 election with a three-seat majority over the Nationalist Party. Labor leader and Premier Albert Ogilvie had died in office on 10 June 1939, and had been replaced by Edmund Dwyer-Gray and then Robert Cosgrove, who led Labor into the 1941 election. Sir Henry Baker continued to lead the Nationalists.

In spite of Cosgrove's refusal to placate the Labor Party's left wing, and criticism from Bill Morrow of the Launceston Trades Hall Council, Labor consolidated its substantial majority even further, winning a further two seats for a total of 20.[2]

  1. ^ House of Assembly Elections, Parliament of Tasmania.
  2. ^ W. A. Townsley, Cosgrove, Sir Robert (1884 - 1969), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 505-507.