1864 Victorian colonial election

1864 Victorian colonial election

← 1861 5 October to 3 November 1864 1866 →
All 78 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly 40 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader James McCulloch John O'Shanassy Party Moderate Liberal (Protectionist) Conservative (Free Trade) Leader's seat Mornington Kilmore Seats won 53 14
Premier before election James McCulloch Liberal Elected Premier James McCulloch Liberal

The 1864 Victorian colonial election was held from 5 October to 3 November 1864 to elect the 4th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though sixteen seats were uncontested.^[1]

There were 24 single-member, 21 two-member and 4 three-member electorates.^[1]

Support for liberal protectionist candidates dominated this election, to such an extent that the colonial newspapers made no attempt to classify individual elected members as Ministerialists or Oppositionists.^[1] While the election was still underway an editorial in The Argus commented that "the Opposition apparently is defunct", adding that "a surprising spirit of concord reigns throughout our political world".^[2]