William Dartnell Johnson

William Johnson
Johnson, c. 1905
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia
In office
4 August 1938 – 2 August 1939
Preceded byAlexander Panton
Succeeded byJoseph Sleeman
Leader of the Opposition and
Leader of the Labor Party
in Western Australia
In office
4 – 27 October 1905
PremierHector Rason
Preceded byHenry Daglish
Succeeded byThomas Bath
Member of the Legislative Assembly
of Western Australia
In office
24 April 1901 – 27 October 1905
Preceded byNone (new seat)
Succeeded byNorbert Keenan
ConstituencyKalgoorlie
In office
16 July 1906 – 29 September 1917
Preceded byHector Rason
Succeeded byJoseph Davies
ConstituencyGuildford
In office
22 March 1924 – 12 April 1930
Preceded byJoseph Davies
Succeeded byNone (abolished)
ConstituencyGuildford
In office
12 April 1930 – 26 January 1948
Preceded byNone (new seat)
Succeeded byJohn Brady
ConstituencyGuildford-Midland
Personal details
Born(1870-10-09)9 October 1870
Wanganui, New Zealand
Died26 January 1948(1948-01-26) (aged 77)
Subiaco, Western Australia
Political partyLabor

William Dartnell Johnson (9 October 1870 – 26 January 1948) was an Australian politician who was prominent in state politics in Western Australia for most of the first half of the 20th century. A member of the Labor Party, he served in the Legislative Assembly on three occasions – from 1901 to 1905, then again from 1906 to 1917, and finally from 1924 until his death. Johnson was elected leader of the Labor Party (and thus leader of the opposition) in October 1905, but three weeks later lost his own seat at the 1905 state election. He had previously been a minister in the government of Henry Daglish (from August 1904 to August 1905), and later returned to the ministry under John Scaddan (from October 1911 to July 1916). Towards the end of his career, Johnson also served just under a year as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, from 1938 to 1939.