# 1891 New South Wales colonial election

The 1891 New South Wales colonial election was held in the then colony of New South Wales between 17 June to 3 July 1891. This election was for all of the 141 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in 35 single-member constituencies, 20 2-member constituencies, 10 3-member constituencies and nine 4-member constituencies, all with a first past the post system. Part 1 (section 10) of the Electoral Act of 1880 set the qualification for election on "every male subject of Her Majesty of the full age of twenty-one years and absolutely free being a natural born or naturalized subject". Seven seats were uncontested. The previous parliament of New South Wales was dissolved on 6 June 1891 by the Governor, The Earl of Jersey, on the advice of the Premier, Sir Henry Parkes.
The election saw the first appearance of the Labor Party (then known as the Labour Electoral League of New South Wales), which won 35 seats, taking a significant number of votes and seats from both of the previous two major parties in the Assembly, and giving Labour the balance of power. The main political parties in New South Wales, the Protectionist Party and the Free Trade Party both lost seats to Labour. Parkes held on as Premier until October 1891 when he again lost a vote in the Legislative Assembly, causing Parkes to resign as Premier and leader of the Free Trade Party. George Dibbs (Protectionist) became Premier after he arranged for support for his government from Labour.

## Key dates

| Date | Event |
| 6 June 1891 | The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election. |
| 15 to 24 June 1891 | Nominations for candidates for the election closed. |
| 17 June to 3 July 1891 | Polling days. |
| 14 July 1891 | Opening of new Parliament. |

## Results

New South Wales colonial election, 3 July 1891  Legislative Assembly
<< 1889–1894 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 180,449 | | Turnout | 64.40 | +4.87 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 3,680 | | Informal | 2.00 | +0.28 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Protectionist | 65,866 | 36.5 | -18.8 | 52 | −14 |
| | Free Trade | 65,850 | 36.5 | −16.0 | 44 | −27 |
| | Labor | 37,216 | 20.6 | +20.6 | 35 | +35 |
| | Ind. Free Trade | 6,684 | 3.7 | +3.7 | 4 | +4 |
| | Ind. Protectionist | 3,627 | 2.0 | +2.0 | 4 | +4 |
| | Independent Labor | 759 | 0.4 | +0.4 | 1 | +1 |
| | Independent | 445 | 0.25 | +0.25 | 1 | +1 |
| Total | Total | 202,042 | | | 141 | |
Popular vote
Protectionist
36.50%
Free Trade
36.49%
Labor
20.62%
Ind. Free Trade
3.70%
Ind. Protectionist
2.01%
Ind. Labor
0.42%
Independent
0.25%
Parliamentary seats
Protectionist
52
Free Trade
44
Labor
35
Ind. Free Trade
4
Ind. Protectionist
4
Ind. Labor
1
Independent
1 :

## Retiring members
### Protectionist

* William Alison MLA (Bogan)
* Wyman Brown MLA (Sturt)
* Myles McRae MLA (Morpeth)
* Alfred Stokes MLA (Forbes)

### Free Trade

* Charles Garland MLA (Carcoar)
* Thomas Garrett MLA (Camden)
* Alexander Hutchison MLA (Canterbury)
* Joseph Mitchell MLA (Illawarra)
* John Shepherd MLA (Paddington)
* Edwin Turner MLA (Gunnedah)
* James Wilshire MLA (Canterbury)
* Francis Woodward MLA (Illawarra)

### Independent

* Adolphus Taylor MLA (West Sydney)
* Cecil Teece MLA (Goulburn)