# 1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election

Elections were held in the Australian state of Western Australia on 7 April 1956 to elect 10 of the 30 members of the state's Legislative Council.

## Results
### Legislative Council

Western Australian state election, 7 April 1956 Legislative Council :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 100,773 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 50,935 | | Turnout | 73.3 | +24.3 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 855 | | Informal | 1.7 | +0.7 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Liberal and Country | 26,178 | 52.3 | +12.1 | 3 | 9 |
| | Labor | 23,018 | 46.0 | –9.0 | 4 | 13 |
| | Country | * | * | * | 3 | 8 |
| | Independent | 884 | 1.8 | –2.2 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 50,080 | | | 10 | 30 |

## Retiring Members
### LCL

* Les Craig (South-West)
* Frank Gibson (Suburban)

## Candidates

| Province | Held by | Labor candidates | LCL candidates | Country candidates | Independent candidates |
| Central | Country | | | Leslie Diver | |
| Metropolitan | LCL | Herbert Fletcher | Keith Watson | | Ray O'Connor (Ind. Lib) |
| Midland | Country | | | Ray Jones | |
| North | Labor | Harry Strickland | Edmund Webb | | |
| North-East | Labor | Eric Heenan | James Boyd | | |
| South | Country | | | Jack Thomson | |
| South-East | LCL | Archibald McGillivray | John Cunningham | | |
| South-West | LCL | Ernest Stapleton | Graham MacKinnon | | |
| Suburban | LCL | George Jeffery | William McPherson | | |
| West | Labor | Evan Davies | | | |

## Election results
### Central

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Country | Leslie Diver | unopposed | | |
| | Country hold | Country hold | Swing | | |

### Metropolitan

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Metropolitan :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal and Country | Keith Watson | 8,873 | 59.6 | N/A |
| | Labor | Herbert Fletcher | 5,127 | 34.5 | +34.5 |
| | Independent Liberal | Ray O'Connor | 884 | 5.9 | +5.9 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 14,884 | 98.2 | N/A |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 275 | 1.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,159 | 73.0 | N/A |
| | Liberal and Country hold | Liberal and Country hold | Swing | N/A | |
* Preferences were not distributed.

### Midland

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Midland :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Country | Ray Jones | unopposed | | |
| | Country hold | Country hold | Swing | | |

### North

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: North :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Harry Strickland | 906 | 63.7 | +12.2 |
| | Liberal and Country | Edmund Webb | 517 | 36.3 | +2.7 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 1,423 | 98.7 | +1.4 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 18 | 1.3 | −1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,423 | 82.4 | +3.4 |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | N/A | |

### North-East

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: North-East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Eric Heenan | 2,113 | 65.8 | +7.7 |
| | Liberal and Country | James Boyd | 1,098 | 34.2 | -7.7 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 3,211 | 98.2 | −0.8 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 58 | 1.8 | +0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,269 | 75.1 | +2.0 |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | +7.7 | |

### South

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Country | Jack Thomson | unopposed | | |
| | Country hold | Country hold | Swing | | |

### South-East

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: South-East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal and Country | John Cunningham | 2,225 | 51.0 | +3.3 |
| | Labor | Archibald McGillivray | 2,141 | 49.0 | -3.3 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 4,366 | 98.9 | +0.1 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 53 | 1.1 | −0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,419 | 75.9 | +12.1 |
| | Liberal and Country hold | Liberal and Country hold | Swing | +3.3 | |

### South-West

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: South-West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal and Country | Graham MacKinnon | 4,457 | 59.8 | N/A |
| | Labor | Ernest Stapleton | 2,992 | 40.2 | +40.2 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 7,449 | 98.5 | N/A |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 115 | 1.5 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,564 | 67.7 | N/A |
| | Liberal and Country hold | Liberal and Country hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Suburban

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: Suburban :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | George Jeffery | 9,739 | 52.0 | +4.0 |
| | Liberal and Country | William McPherson | 9,008 | 48.0 | -4.0 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 18,747 | 98.2 | −1.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 336 | 1.8 | +1.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,083 | 74.5 | +25.7 |
| | Labor gain from Liberal and Country | Labor gain from Liberal and Country | Swing | +4.0 | |

### West

1956 Western Australian Legislative Council election: West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Evan Davies | unopposed | | |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | | |