The 1902 Victorian state election was held in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Victoria on 1 October 1902, to elect 70 of the 95 members of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

. The other 25 seats were uncontested. There was manhood suffrage in single and multimember districts (with multiple voting), and

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

(plurality) voting was used. William Irvine replaced

Alexander Peacock Sir Alexander James Peacock (11 June 1861 – 7 October 1933) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Premier of Victoria. Early years Peacock was born of Scottish descent at Creswick, the first Victorian Premier born after ...

as Victorian Premier on 10 June 1902, and contested the election as the incumbent premier and leader of the conservative

National Citizens' Reform League The National Citizens' Reform League, sometimes known as the Kyabram movement, was formed in Melbourne in April 1902. It sought to reduce the size of the Victorian government, following the recent creation of the Australian Government. Its cause ...

. Irvine soundly defeated the Liberals, and their Labor allies led by

Frederick Bromley Frederick Hadkinson Bromley (30 November 1854 – 29 September 1908) was an English-born Australian trade unionist and early Labour leader in Victoria. Early life Bromley was born in 1854 in Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and m ...

. This election marked the end of traditional contests between the Liberals and

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

in Victoria, with the Reform League made up of members from both parties. This was also the first election in Victoria after

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in 1901, when it ceased to be a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

and became a

Results

47 Ministerialist MPs were elected with the backing of the Citizens' Reform League, while 11 ran solely as Ministerialists or Independent Ministerialists. Liberal MPs were elected as Oppositionists.

References

{{Victorian elections

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's ...

1902 elections in Australia 1900s in Victoria (state)

Results

See also

References