# 1927 New South Wales state election

The 1927 New South Wales state election to elect the 90 members of the 28th Legislative Assembly was held on 8 October 1927. During the previous parliament the voting system, Single transferable voting, a form of proportional representation with multi-member seats (modified Hare-Clark), had been changed to single member constituencies and Instant-runoff voting (optional preferential voting).
Severe divisions occurred within the Labor Party caucus in the four months prior to the election (see Lang Labor). A caretaker government composed of the supporters of the Premier of New South Wales and party leader, Jack Lang was in power at the time of the election.
As a result of the election the Lang government was defeated and a Nationalist/Country Party coalition government led by Thomas Bavin and Ernest Buttenshaw was formed with a parliamentary majority of 1 and the usual support of the 2 Nationalist independents. The Parliament first met on 3 November 1927, and ran its maximum term of 3 years. Lang remained the leader of the Labor Party throughout the Parliament.
To date Lang is the only elected Labor Premier of New South Wales to be voted out of office. Subsequent Labor Premiers who has lost office were all non-elected.

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| 7 September 1927 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 14 September 1927 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
| 8 October 1927 | Polling day. |
| 18 October 1927 | Bavin ministry sworn in |
| 29 October 1927 | The writs were returned and the results formally declared. |
| 3 November 1927 | Opening of 28th Parliament. |

## Results

New South Wales state election, 29 October 1927 Legislative Assembly
<< 1925–1930 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 1,394,254 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 1,150,767 | | Turnout | 82.54 | +13.47 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 15,086 | | Informal | 1.31 | –2.06 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 488,306 | 43.00 | –2.99 | 40 | –6 |
| | Nationalist | 437,050 | 38.48 | +1.41 | 33 | +1 |
| | Country | 100,963 | 8.89 | –2.58 | 13 | +4 |
| | Independent Labor | 32,217 | 2.84 | +2.58 | 2 | +2 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | 30,061 | 2.65 | +2.06 | 2 | +1 |
| | Protestant Labor | 7,264 | 0.64 | –1.47 | 0 | –1 |
| | Independent Country | 4,316 | 0.38 | +0.38 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independents | 35,504 | 3.13 | +1.02 | 0 | –1 |
| Total | Total | 1,135,681 | | | 90 | |
Popular vote
Labor
43.00%
Nationalist
38.48%
Country
8.89%
Ind. Labor
2.84%
Ind. Nationalist
2.65%
Others
4.15%
Parliamentary seats
Labor
40
Nationalist
33
Country
13
Ind. Labor
2
Ind. Nationalist
2 :

## Changing seats

| 1925 election | 1925 election | 1925 election | 1925 election | 1925 election | 1927 election | 1927 election | 1927 election | 1927 election |
| Old Electorate | Member | Party | Party | Note | New Electorate | New Member | Party | Party |
| Balmain | H. V. Evatt | | Labor | Changed party | Balmain | H. V. Evatt | Ind Labor | |
| Balmain | Albert Lane | | Nationalist | Defeated | Leichhardt | Barney Olde | Labor | |
| Balmain | James Dooley | | Labor | Retired | Hartley | Hamilton Knight | Labor | |
| Botany | Thomas Mutch | | Labor | Changed party | Botany | Thomas Mutch | Ind Labor | |
| Botany | | | | | Enmore | Joe Lamaro | Labor | |
| Byron | Robert Gillies | | Labor / Independent | Defeated as Ind Labor | Byron | Arthur Budd | Country | |
| Byron | Frederick Stuart | | Progressive | Defeated as Ind Country | Byron | Byron | Byron | Byron |
| Byron | | | | | Clarence | Alfred Pollack | Country | |
| Cootamundra | Peter Loughlin | | Labor / Independent | Defeated as Ind Labor | Young | Albert Reid | Country | |
| Eastern Suburbs | Harold Jaques | | Nationalist | Changed party | Bondi | Harold Jaques | Ind. Nationalist | |
| Eastern Suburbs | Millicent Preston-Stanley | | Nationalist | Defeated | Bondi | Bondi | Bondi | Bondi |
| Eastern Suburbs | Bob O'Halloran | | Labor | Retired | Coogee | Hyman Goldstein | Nationalist | |
| Eastern Suburbs | | | | | Randwick | Ernest Tresidder | Nationalist | |
| Eastern Suburbs | | | | | Waverley | Carl Glasgow | Nationalist | |
| Eastern Suburbs | Septimus Alldis | | Labor | Defeated as Ind Labor | Woollahra | Maurice O'Sullivan | Labor | |
| Goulburn | Paddy Stokes | | Labor | Defeated | Monaro | William Hedges | Country | |
| Murray | Vern Goodin | | Labor / Independent | Defeated as Ind Labor | Albury | John Ross | Nationalist | |
| Newcastle | | | | | Newcastle | Peter Connolly | Labor | |
| Newcastle | Walter Skelton | | Protestant Labor | Defeated | Wallsend | Robert Cameron | Labor | |
| North Shore | Alick Kay | | Independent | Resigned | Lane Cove | Bryce Walmsley | Nationalist | |
| North Shore | | | | | Neutral Bay | Reginald Weaver | Nationalist | |
| North Shore | William Fell | | Ind. Nationalist | Retired | North Sydney | Ernest Marks | Nationalist | |
| North Shore | Cecil Murphy | | Labor | Defeated as Ind Labor | Rozelle | Rozelle | Rozelle | Rozelle |
| North Shore | Edward Sanders | | Nationalist | Changed party | Willoughby | Edward Sanders | Ind. Nationalist | |
| Northern Tablelands | Alfred McClelland | | Labor | Defeated | Armidale | Armidale | Armidale | Armidale |
| Oxley | Theodore Hill | | Nationalist | Retired | Oxley | Lewis Martin | Nationalist | |
| Oxley | Joseph Fitzgerald | | Labor | Retired | | | | |
| Ryde | Robert Greig | | Labor | Retired | Ryde | Henry McDicken | Labor | |
| St George | | | | | Canterbury | Arthur Tonge | Labor | |
| St George | William Bagnall | | Nationalist | Retired | Hurstville | Walter Butler | Labor | |
| St George | George Cann | | Labor | Defeated as Ind Labor | Lakemba | Fred Stanley | Labor | |
| Sturt | Brian Doe | | Nationalist | Defeated | Illawarra | Illawarra | Illawarra | Illawarra |
| Sydney | Patrick Minahan | | Labor | Defeated as Ind Labor | Auburn | Auburn | Auburn | Auburn |
| Sydney | William Holdsworth | | Labor | Retired | King | Daniel Clyne | Labor | |
| Sydney | | | | | Surry Hills | Tom Shannon | Labor | |
| Wammerawa | Joseph Clark | | Labor | Defeated | Castlereagh | | | |
| Wammerawa | | | | | Liverpool Plains | Harry Carter | Country | |
| Western Suburbs | Edward McTiernan | | Labor | Retired | Croydon | Bertram Stevens | Nationalist | |
| Western Suburbs | Tom Hoskins | | Nationalist | Defeated as Ind. Nationalist | Dulwich Hill | Dulwich Hill | Dulwich Hill | Dulwich Hill |