| Election Name: | 1956 Tasmanian state election |
| Country: | Tasmania |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1955 Tasmanian state election |
| Previous Year: | 1955 |
| Next Election: | 1959 Tasmanian state election |
| Next Year: | 1959 |
| Seats For Election: | All 30 seats to the House of Assembly |
| Election Date: | 13 October 1956 |
| Leader1: | Robert Cosgrove |
| Leader Since1: | 25 February 1948 |
| Party1: | Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Denison |
| Last Election1: | 15 seats |
| Seats1: | 15 seats |
| Seat Change1: | 0 |
| Percentage1: | 50.27% |
| Swing1: | 2.36 |
| Leader2: | Tim Jackson |
| Leader Since2: | 26 June 1956 |
| Party2: | Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division) |
| Leaders Seat2: | Franklin |
| Last Election2: | 15 seats |
| Seats2: | 15 seats |
| Seat Change2: | 0 |
| Percentage2: | 43.61% |
| Swing2: | 1.74 |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Premier | |
| Posttitle: | Resulting Premier |
| Before Election: | Robert Cosgrove |
| Before Party: | Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) |
| After Election: | Robert Cosgrove |
| After Party: | Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) |
The 1956 Tasmanian state election was held on 13 October 1956 in the Australian state of Tasmania to elect 30 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The election used the Hare-Clark proportional representation system[1] — six members were elected from each of five electorates.
The 1955 election had resulted in a parliamentary deadlock between the Labor and Liberal parties, although Robert Cosgrove remained Premier of Tasmania. On 11 September 1956, Cosgrove's minister for housing, Carrol Bramich, resigned from the ALP following an internal row, party switching and giving the Liberal opposition a majority.[2] Cosgrove obtained a dissolution of parliament from the Governor of Tasmania, and an election was called for 13 October.[3]
The electorate of Darwin had been renamed in 1955 to Braddon, after former Premier Sir Edward Braddon.
See also: Results of the Tasmanian state election, 1956.
Following the 1956 election, the ALP and Liberals remained in a 15-seat deadlock. Despite Bramich's defection to the Liberals, Labor picked up a seat in Bramich's electorate of Braddon, maintaining the status quo with Cosgrove and the ALP still in power.
| Bass | Braddon | Denison | Franklin | Wilmot | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51.5% | 48.5% | 48.7% | 49.0% | 53.7% | ||
| 44.5% | 46.9% | 41.4% | 42.9% | 42.5% | ||
| Other | 4.0% | 4.6% | 9.9% | 8.1% | 3.8% |
| Electorate | Seats won | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bass | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | width=20 | ||||||
| Braddon | ||||||||||||
| Denison | ||||||||||||
| Franklin | ||||||||||||
| Wilmot | ||||||||||||
| width=20 | Labor | ||
| Liberal |
The subsequent election in 1959 saw the number of seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly increased to 35, which would prevent the kind of deadlock which resulted from having an even number of seats in the house.