The 1887 New South Wales colonial election was held between 4 February and 26 February 1887. This election was for all of the 124 seats in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

and it was conducted in 37 single-member constituencies, 23 2-member constituencies, seven 3-member constituencies and five 4-member constituencies, all with a

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

system. Part 1 (section 13) of the Electoral Act of 1880 had awarded the right to vote to 'every male subject of Her Majesty of the full age of twenty-one years and absolutely free being a natural born or naturalized'.. The previous parliament of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

was dissolved on 26 January 1887 by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secretar ...

, on the advice of the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, Sir Henry Parkes. Parkes had defeated the government of

Patrick Jennings Sir Patrick Alfred Jennings, (20 March 183111 July 1897) was an Irish-Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales. Early life Jennings was born at Newry, Ireland, the son of Francis Jennings, a well-known merchant in that town. He ...

less than a week previously, and was keen to test his electoral strength. This was the first election at which there were recognisable political parties, namely the

Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party or Liberal Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1887 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. The party advocated protective tariffs, arguing it would allow Australi ...

, which coalesced around Jennings' successor George Dibbs, and Parkes' Free Trade Party. At this stage these parties were still organisationally very different from today's political parties, and party affiliation was often fluid or non-existent, depending on the individual member.

Key dates

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New South Wales Colonial Election, 1887 1887 1887 elections in Australia 1880s in New South Wales February 1887 events

Key dates

Results

See also

References