1909 Brighton state by-election explained

1909 Brighton state by-election should not be confused with 1928 Brighton state by-election.

Country:Victoria
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1908 Victorian state election
Previous Year:1908
Next Election:1911 Victorian state election
Next Year:1911
Election Date:8 October 1909
Seats For Election:Electoral district of Brighton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Party1:Liberal
Colour1:8DB4D2
Popular Vote1:3,362
Percentage1:60.3%
Colour2:8DB4D2
Popular Vote2:1,170
Percentage2:31.8
Party3:Labor
Colour3:EF0011
Popular Vote3:439
Percentage3:7.9
MP
Before Election:Thomas Bent
Before Party:Liberal
After Election:Oswald Snowball
After Party:Liberal

The 1909 Brighton state by-election was held on 8 October 1909 to elect the next member for Brighton in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, following the death of incumbent MP and former premier Thomas Bent.

Bent, who served as premier from February 1904 until January 1909, died on 17 September 1909 at his home in Bay Street, Brighton. He had been unopposed at the previous election in 1908.[1]

Prior to the election, the United Liberal Party (which Bent had led in 1908) had merged with the Liberal Party.[2] This led to the ULP splitting and the Liberal Party forming.[2]

The by-election was won by Liberal candidate Oswald Snowball. Other candidates were Independent Liberal John Hamilton and future Labor MLC Daniel McNamara.

This was the first state election in Victoria in which women could vote.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Death of Sir Thomas Bent . Trove, National Library of Australia . . 18 September 1909.
  2. Web site: Parliament in Exile: Aspects of the Victorian Parliament at the Exhibition Building, 1901 to 1927 . Australasian Study of Parliament Group.