South Australian colonial election, 1890

South Australian colonial election, 1890

9 April 1890 (1890-04-09)

All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly 27 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader John Cockburn Thomas Playford Party Liberal Conservative Leader's seat Burra Onkaparinga

Premier before election John Cockburn Liberal Elected Premier John Cockburn Liberal

Colonial elections were held in South Australia from 9 April to 23 April 1890.^[1][2] All 54 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent government led by Premier of South Australia John Cockburn defeated the opposition led by Leader of the Opposition Thomas Playford II. Each district elected multiple members, with voters casting multiple votes.

Since the inaugural 1857 election, no parties or solid groupings had been formed, which resulted in frequent changes of the Premier. If for any reason the incumbent Premier lost sufficient support through a successful motion of no confidence at any time on the floor of the house, he would tender his resignation to the Governor of South Australia, which would result in interested members declaring their intent to run for the vacant position. A parliamentary ballot would then take place, resulting in the member with the most votes being sworn in by the Governor as the next Premier.

However, from the 1887 election there began a growing informal division between groups of members who were loosely described as ‘conservative’ and ‘radical’ by the press. The ‘conservatives’ found their leaders in John Cox Bray and John William Downer, while the ‘radicals’ were led by John Colton, Thomas Playford and John Cockburn. The leaders often contested government against their reported allies in loose alliances, producing an element of political ‘structure’ which began to see a trend emerge toward increased government stability. The United Labor Party would be formed in 1891, while the National Defence League would be formed later in the same year.

See also

• Premier of South Australia
• Members of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1890–1893
• Members of the South Australian Legislative Council, 1891–1894

Notes

References

• History of South Australian elections 1857-2006, volume 1: ECSA
• Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836-2007: SA Parliament
• State and federal election results in Australia since 1890

Elections and referendums in South Australia
General elections	1851 1855 1857 1860 1862 1865 1868 1870 1871 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1906 1910 1912 1915 1918 1921 1924 1927 1930 1933 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1970 1973 1975 1977 1979 1982 1985 1989 1993 1997 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 by-elections
Referendums	1896 1898 1899 1911 1915 1965 1970 1982 1991