1991 Geraldton state by-election

The 1991 Geraldton state by-election was a by-election for the seat of Geraldton in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia held on 20 July 1991. It was triggered by the resignation of Jeff Carr (the sitting Labor member) on 28 February 1991, due to his expulsion from cabinet. The election was won by the Liberal candidate, Bob Bloffwitch, who won 51.4 percent of the two-candidate-preferred (2CP) vote. The National Party also made the final 2CP count, despite having not stood a candidate in Geraldton since the 1974 state election, whereas Labor slumped to just 16.6 percent on first preferences, a swing of 31 points from the 1989 state election.

Background

Jeff Carr, a former schoolteacher, had held Geraldton for the Labor Party since the 1974 state election. However, he was nearly defeated at the 1986 election, falling from a comfortably safe majority of 63.1 percent of the two-party preferred vote to an extremely marginal 50.4 percent. He was reelected with an equally narrow 50.2 percent at the 1989 state election. Carr served as a minister under Brian Burke, Peter Dowding, and Carmen Lawrence.[1] On 2 February 1991 Lawrence, removed him from the ministry (along with two others, Pam Buchanan and Gavan Troy).[2] Carr resigned from parliament on 28 February, and the writ for the by-election was issued on 6 March, with the close of nominations on 22 March. Polling day was on 13 April, with the writ returned on 24 April.[3]

Results
Geraldton state by-election, 1991
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Bob Bloffwitch 4,446 45.5 +2.0
National Malcolm Short 2,054 21.0 +21.0
Labor Dianne Spowart 1,620 16.6 –31.0
Independent Faye Simpson 471 4.8 +4.8
Independent Helena Shields 315 3.2 +3.2
Independent Albert Lenane 286 2.9 +2.9
Independent Kenneth Gallaher 165 1.7 +1.7
Grey Power Jason Meotti 146 1.5 –7.4
Independent Bruce Burges 144 1.5 +1.5
Independent Arthur Davies 67 0.7 +0.7
Independent William Thomson 57 0.6 +0.6
Total formal votes 9,771 94.5 +0.5
Informal votes 566 5.5 –0.5
Turnout 10,337 86.8 –4.0
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Bob Bloffwitch 5,024 51.4 +1.6
National Malcolm Short 4,747 48.6 +48.6
Liberal gain from Labor SwingN/A

Aftermath

The Labor Party regained much of its previous support in Geraldton at the 1993 state election, recording a positive swing of 17.2 points in contrast to a statewide negative swing of 5.4 points.[3] This was not enough to regain the seat, however, and Bloffwitch held Geraldton until being defeated by Shane Hill at the 2001 state election.[4]

See also

References
  1. Jeffrey Phillip Carr – Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. The Lawrence Government: Other Perspectives, The Carmen Lawrence Collection, Curtin University Library. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  3. Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth, Western Australia: Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0-7309-8409-5.
  4. Robert Clyde Bloffwitch, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
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