The 1938 New South Wales state election was held on 26 March 1938. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 32nd New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 and was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting

Instant-runoff voting

Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

.

The result of the election was:

• United Australia Party
  United Australia Party
  The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...
  
   37 seats
• Country Party
  National Party of Australia
  The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
  
   22 seats
• Australian Labor Party
  Australian Labor Party
  The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
  
    28 seats
• Industrial Labor Party
  Industrial Labor Party
  The Industrial Labor Party or Heffron Labor Party was a political party active in New South Wales, Australia, between 1938 and 1939. It was a splinter group of the Australian Labor Party and was formed by Bob Heffron after he and Carlo Lazzarini attempted to depose the party leader Jack Lang...
  
   2 seats
• Independent 1 seat.

The UAP/Country Party coalition of Bertram Stevens/Michael Bruxner

Michael Bruxner

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Frederick Bruxner KBE, DSO, JP was an Australian politician and soldier, serving for many years as Leader of the Country Party and its predecessors...

 had a majority of 28 (down 2). Stevens continued as Premier

Premiers of New South Wales

The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...

  until 5 August 1939 when he was deposed by his party and replaced by Alexander Mair

Alexander Mair

Alexander Mair was an Australian politician and served as the Premier of New South Wales from 5 August 1939 to 16 May 1941. Born in Melbourne, working in various businesses, Mair moved to Albury, New South Wales and went on to be a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for fourteen...

.

Labor's continued poor showing in this election was seen as evidence of Jack Lang (Australian politician)

Jack Lang (Australian politician)

John Thomas Lang , usually referred to as J.T. Lang during his career, and familiarly known as "Jack" and nicknamed "The Big Fella" was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales for two terms...

 inability to appeal to the middle ground of the electorate. As a result moves to dispose Lang intensified. The Industrial Labor Party led by Lang rival Bob Heffron was re-absorbed into the ALP on 26 August 1939 and Lang was replaced as party leader

Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales

The leader of the ALP in the New South Wales Parliament is elected from and by the members of the party caucus, comprising all party members in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. When the Labor party forms a government the leader is the Premier and when the party is in opposition...

 by William McKell

William McKell

Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....

 on 5 September 1939.

During this parliament the ALP and Industrial Labor each won 2 by-elections from the UAP. This reduced the Government's majority to 20 when the parliament was dissolved.

Key dates

Date	Event
24 February 1938	The Legislative Assembly was dissolved, and writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
4 March 1938	Nominations for candidates for the election closed at noon.
26 March 1938	Polling day.
26 April 1938	The writs were returned and the results formally declared.
12 April 1938	Opening of 32st Parliament.

Results

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There were 1,528,713 enrolled voters but 338,853 were enrolled in 19 electorates (six UAP, three Country and ten Labor) which were uncontested at the election.

See also

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1938–1941

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, 1938–1941

This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1938 to 1941, as elected at the 1938 state election.This is a list of members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1938 to 1941, as elected at the 1938 state election.This is a list of members of the New South...

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