# 1953 New South Wales state election

The 1953 New South Wales state election was held on 14 February 1953. It was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and was held on boundaries created at a 1952 redistribution. The election was for all of the 94 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

## Issues

In February 1953, the ALP had been in power for 12 years and James McGirr, who had led the party to a near defeat in 1950, had lost the premiership to Joe Cahill 10 months earlier. McGirr's period as the Labor leader had been marked by policy indecisiveness, budget overspending and internal conflict. Cahill, by contrast, had won popular support as a vigorous and impressive minister who had resolved problems with New South Wales' electricity supply. During his first 10 months as premier, he had reinvigorated the party. He appeared decisive and brought order to the government's chaotic public works program. In addition, he astutely attacked the increasingly unpopular federal Coalition government of Robert Menzies.
By contrast, the Liberal Party and Country Party coalition led by Vernon Treatt and Michael Bruxner was racked with internal divisions. Treatt himself, despite having been opposition leader for seven years, remained little known to the public. Whereas in 1950 his coalition had achieved a big swing against the ALP, in 1953 he was unable to convince voters that he possessed a coherent alternative policy to the government.

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| 14 January 1953 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 19 January 1953 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon. |
| 14 February 1953 | Polling day. |
| 23 February 1953 | Second Cahill ministry sworn in |
| 14 March 1953 | Last day for the writs to be returned and the results formally declared. |
| 11 March 1953 | Opening of 37th Parliament. |

## Results

The result of the election was a landslide victory for Labor. Labor's vote was particularly strong in the Western and Southern suburbs of Sydney. It won the seats of Concord, Coogee, Drummoyne, Kogarah, Parramatta, Ryde and Sutherland from the Liberal Party and picked up the new suburban seats of East Hills and Fairfield. Labor's vote was resurgent in rural New South Wales where it won the seats of Armidale, Dubbo and Mudgee from the Country party. Labor also picked up the seat of North Sydney from Independent member James Geraghty who was the last of the 4 Independent members of parliament who had been expelled from the Labor party for disloyalty during an indirect election of the Legislative Council in 1949. John Seiffert, another rebel from 1949 and the member for Monaro, had been readmitted to the party in 1950 and retained the seat at this election, giving a further boost to Labor's numbers. Labor's losses included Ashfield which had been won from the Liberal Party at the 1952 by-election and Hartley which was retained by Jim Chalmers who stood as an Independent Labor candidate after he resigned from the party over a pre-selection dispute. The Minister for Labour, Industry and Social Welfare, Frank Finnan was unseated when his electorate of Darlinghurst was abolished, he lost a preselection contest for Concord, and he failed in an attempt to win Albury.
New South Wales state election, 14 February 1953 Legislative Assembly
<< 1950–1956 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 1,953,953 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 1,548,877 | | Turnout | 93.86 | +1.11 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 39,416 | | Informal | 2.48 | +0.71 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 852,276 | 55.03 | +8.28 | 57 | +11 |
| | Liberal | 432,739 | 27.94 | −9.57 | 22 | −7 |
| | Country | 179,680 | 11.60 | +2.63 | 14 | −3 |
| | Independent | 38,822 | 2.51 | +0.20 | 0 | − |
| | Communist | 21,421 | 1.38 | +0.54 | 0 | − |
| | Independent Labor | 16,533 | 1.07 | −0.58 | 1 | − 1 |
| | Lang Labor | 7,046 | 0.48 | −0.74 | 0 | − |
| Total | Total | 1,588,293 | | | 94 | |

## Retiring members
### Labor

* Carlo Lazzarini (Marrickville) had died in late 1952 but no by-election was held.
* Arthur Greenup (Newtown-Annandale) the district was abolished in the 1952 redistribution, and he was defeated in the preselection contest for Marrickville.

### Liberal

* Harry Turner (Gordon) had resigned in late 1952 to run for a federal seat. No by-election was held.
* George Gollan (Parramatta).

### Country

* Roy Vincent (Raleigh).

## Seats changing party representation

| Seat | 1950 | 1950 | 1950 | 1953 | 1953 | 1953 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Member | Party | Party |
| Armidale | | Country | Davis Hughes | Jim Cahill | Labor | |
| Ashfield | | Liberal | | Richard Murden | Liberal | |
| Concord | | Liberal | John Adamson | Thomas Murphy | Labor | |
| Coogee | | Liberal | Kevin Ellis | Lou Walsh | Labor | |
| Darlinghurst | | Labor | Frank Finnan | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished |
| Drummoyne | | Liberal | Robert Dewley | Roy Jackson | Labor | |
| Dubbo | | Country | Robert Medcalf | Clarrie Robertson | Labor | |
| East Hills | East Hills | East Hills | New seat | Arthur Williams | Labor | |
| Fairfield | Fairfield | Fairfield | New seat | Clarrie Earl | Labor | |
| Hartley | | Labor | Jim Chalmers | Jim Chalmers | Independent Labor | |
| Kogarah | | Liberal | Douglas Cross | Bill Crabtree | Labor | |
| Monaro | | Independent Labor | John Seiffert | John Seiffert | | Labor |
| Mudgee | | Country | Frederick Cooke | Leo Nott | Labor | |
| Newtown-Annandale | | Labor | Arthur Greenup | Seat abolished | Seat abolished | Seat abolished |
| North Sydney | | Independent Labor | James Geraghty | Ray Maher | Labor | |
| Parramatta | | Liberal | George Gollan | Kevin Morgan | Labor | |
| Ryde | | Liberal | Ken Anderson | Frank Downing | Labor | |
| Sutherland | | Liberal | Cecil Monro | Tom Dalton | Labor | |

## Aftermath

Joe Cahill's triumph at this election ensured that he remained premier during the course of the parliament. Treatt faced increasing opposition within the Liberal Party and was replaced as Leader of the Opposition by Murray Robson in August 1954. Bruxner continued as the Leader of the Country Party, a position he had held since 1932. During the parliament there were 7 by-elections with no change of party representation except for Kahibah where an Independent Labor candidate Tom Armstrong defeated the endorsed Labor candidate.