1902 Balmain South state by-election

A by-election was held for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Balmain South on 6 December 1902 because of the resignation of Sydney Law from the Labour Party and the parliament.[1] Following the 1901 election, the Progressive Party had formed a government with the support of Labour. In 1902 a man named Moss Firedman had been found guilty by a jury, however the judge disagreed with the guilty verdict. The Attorney General, Bernhard Wise, remitted Friedman's sentence and Joseph Carruthers, the Leader of the Opposition, moved a motion in the Legislative Assembly to censure Wise. Law voted in support of the motion despite a Labour decision to oppose it.[2] Law chose to resign and recontest the seat as an Independent Labour candidate.[3]

Dates
Date Event
30 October 1902 Vote on censure motion in Legislative Assembly/[2]
18 November 1902 Law resigned.[1]
19 November 1902 Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[4]
28 November 1902 Nominations
6 December 1902 Polling day
15 December 1902 Return of writ

Result
1902 Balmain South by-election
Wednesday 16 August [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Labour Sydney Law 1,387 57.9
Labour Hugh Byers 1,006 42.1
Total formal votes 2,388 99.3 +0.3
Informal votes 16 0.7 -0.3
Turnout 2,404 58.9 [lower-alpha 1] -10.1
  Member changed to Independent Labour from Labour

See also

Notes
  1. based on a roll of 4,082 at the 1901 election.

References
  1. "Mr Sydney James Law (1856-1939)". Former Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. "Law and disorder". The Worker. 22 November 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 6 August 2020 – via Trove.
  3. Green, Antony. "1902 Balmain South by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  4. "Writ of election: Balmain South". New South Wales Government Gazette (674). 19 November 1902. p. 8413. Retrieved 2 August 2020 – via Trove.
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