1899 South Australian colonial election

1899 South Australian colonial election

29 April 1899 (1899-04-29)
All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 28 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Downer Lee Batchelor John Jenkins Party Conservative United Labor Liberal Leader since 1897 1897 1893 Leader's seat Barossa West Adelaide West Adelaide Seats won 28 11 14 Percentage 33.70 25.43 21.97 Swing 1.14% 1.14% 1.47%
Premier before election Charles Kingston Liberal Elected Premier Charles Kingston Liberal

The 1899 South Australian colonial election was held on 29 April 1899 to elect all 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly. In the seat of Albert, the incumbent members were elected unopposed on 12 April, and the election in the seat of Northern Territory was held on 6 May. All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent liberal government led by Premier of South Australia Charles Kingston in an informal coalition United Labor Party (ULP) led by Lee Batchelor defeated the conservative opposition led by Leader of the Opposition John Downer. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes. Although the conservatives won more seats, the liberal government retained power until later that year, when new conservative leader Vaiben Louis Solomon forced the government to resign, but only held office for one week. The liberals held government until the next election through leaders Frederick Holder and John Jenkins.

Background

The 1899 election was a contest between three increasingly dominating groups – the ULP, the conservative National Defence League (NDL) which renamed to the Australasian National League (ANL), and the Kingston liberals. It was also dominated by one issue – the restrictive franchise for the Legislative Council. The Kingston government, which had secured a majority with the strong support of the ULP, had attempted to broaden the franchise in 1898, but the ANL and conservative majority of the council had rejected the Bill. Kingston took the Assembly into the 1899 election with this issue dominant. The seat contest was particularly intense between the conservatives and the Kingston liberals. There was no "Liberal" or "Kingston" party, but there was a relatively cohesive Kingston group among both independent members and candidates. The Liberal and Democratic Union would not be formed until the 1906 election.

Results

House of Assembly (FPTP) (Non-CV)

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Conservative		54,010	33.70	+2.56	28
	United Labor		40,756	25.43	+1.14	11
	Liberal		21.97	24.26	+1.47	14
	Independent		5,380	3.36	−2.38	1
	Other		24,898	15.54	+0.84	0
Formal votes			160,258
Informal votes			1,218
Total			161,476			54
Registered voters / turnout			152,393	62.86