# 1986 Western Australian state election

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 8 February 1986 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and 17 members to the 34-seat Legislative Council. The Labor government, led by Premier Brian Burke, won a second term in office against the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader Bill Hassell since 16 February 1984.
The election resulted in one of Labor's best state election results after World War II, and featured a united National Party for the first time since the 1977 election.

## Results
### Legislative Assembly

Western Australian state election, 8 February 1986 Legislative Assembly
<< 1983–1989 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 883,239 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 807,634 | | Turnout | 91.44% | +3.51% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 21,240 | | Informal | 2.63% | –0.20% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 416,805 | 53.00% | –0.16% | 32 | ± 0 |
| | Liberal | 324,961 | 41.32% | +1.46% | 19 | – 1 |
| | National | 29,156 | 3.71% | –1.40% | 6 | + 1 |
| | Democrats | 5,192 | 0.66% | –0.14% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Other parties | 2,630 | 0.33% | –0.73% | 0 | ± 0 |
| | Independent | 7,650 | 0.98% | +0.48% | 0 | ± 0 |
| Total | Total | 786,394 | | | 57 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 427,704 | 54.12% | +0.37% | | |
| | Liberal | 362,642 | 45.88% | –0.37% | | |
Notes:
    $^1$ The National Country Party (NCP) and the National Party (NP), which had been two separate parties from 1978 onwards, united in 1985 to form the National Party. Three sitting members who had previously identified as National Country Party stood for the Liberal Party in 1986, with two losing their seats to the Nationals, and the other (Bert Crane in Moore) retaining his seat. The Nationals also gained Avon from the Labor Party, and Mount Marshall from the Liberals, who had held it for a single term.

### Legislative Council

Western Australian state election, 8 February 1986 Legislative Council :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 883,239 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 807,496 | | Turnout | 91.42% | +2.44% |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 26,530 | | Informal | 3.29% | –0.43% |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 352,437 | 45.13% | –5.50% | 9 | 15 |
| | Liberal | 327,786 | 41.97% | +0.40% | 6 | 15 |
| | National | 37,194 | 4.76% | –1.59% | 2 | 4 |
| | Democrats | 63,483 | 8.13% | +6.68% | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | 66 | 0.01% | +0.01% | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 780,966 | | | 17 | 34 |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 418,124 | 53.54% | +0.57% | | |
| | Liberal | 361,160 | 46.25% | –0.57% | | |

## Seats changing parties

| Seat | Pre-1986 | Pre-1986 | Pre-1986 | Pre-1986 | Swing | Post-1986 | Post-1986 | Post-1986 | Post-1986 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Avon | | Labor | Ken McIver | 8.4* | N/A | 1.8** | Max Trenorden | National | |
| Mount Marshall | | Liberal | Bill McNee | 5.7*** | N/A | 3.3 | Mort Schell | National | |
| Subiaco | | Independent | Tom Dadour | 1.6** | 3.3 | 1.7* | Carmen Lawrence | Labor | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
* * figure is vs. Liberal
* ** figure is vs. Labor
* *** figure is vs. National (pre-merger)

## Opinion polling

Morgan Gallop opinion poll results :
| Date | Primary vote | Primary vote | Leader's approval rating | Leader's approval rating |
| Date | Labor | Liberal-National | Labor | Liberal |
| 19 February 1983 election | 53.8 | 44.2 | — | — |
| March–April 1983 | 58 | 37 | 70 | 44 |
| May–June 1983 | 55 | 41 | 72 | 48 |
| July–August 1983 | 51 | 43 | 68 | 47 |
| September–October 1983 | 48 | 47 | 63 | 43 |
| November–December 1983 | 56 | 40 | 63 | 45 |
| January–February 1984 | 53 | 42 | 71 | 37 |
| 15 February 1984 | Bill Hassell replaces Ray O'Connor as leader of the Liberal Party | Bill Hassell replaces Ray O'Connor as leader of the Liberal Party | Bill Hassell replaces Ray O'Connor as leader of the Liberal Party | Bill Hassell replaces Ray O'Connor as leader of the Liberal Party |
| March–April 1984 | 49 | 46 | 68 | 38 |
| May–June 1984 | 54 | 41 | 66 | 38 |
| July–August 1984 | 50 | 46 | 65 | 40 |
| September–October 1984 | 57 | 38 | 69 | 39 |
| November–December 1984 | 53 | 42 | 63 | 41 |
| January–February 1985 | 45 | 49 | 58 | 39 |
| March–April 1985 | 45 | 47 | 53 | 36 |
| May–June 1985 | 45 | 48 | 61 | 37 |
| July–August 1985 | 48 | 47 | 64 | 34 |
| September–October 1985 | 49 | 45 | 61 | 32 |
| November–December 1985 | 53 | 40 | 65 | 32 |
| 8 February 1986 election | 53.2 | 44.9 | — | — |