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All 44 seats in theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Winning party by electorate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections were held in thestate ofWestern Australia between 27 April and 26 May 1897 to elect 44 members to theWestern Australian Legislative Assembly. The Ministerialist group led byJohn Forrest won a third term in office as a result of the elections. The poll took place based on boundaries established in theConstitution Act Amendment Act 1896, which increased the number of members from 33 mainly by adding new seats in the Goldfields region, and had been called a year earlier than was necessary.[1] In 18 of the 44 seats, only one candidate nominated and polls were not held.
As payment of members was not introduced until 1900, the Political Labour Party, formed in 1896, had found it difficult to attract candidates who could afford to enter Parliament, but three of its candidates ran for election, andCharles Oldham, a former president of the Trades and Labor Council, became the first Labour member of Parliament in Western Australia.
Western Australian state election, 1897 | ||||||
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| Enrolled voters | 17,114[1] | |||||
| Votes cast | 9,016 | Turnout | 52.68% | |||
| Informal votes | 279 | Informal | 3.09% | |||
| Summary of votes by party | ||||||
| Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
| Ministerialist | 4,351 | 49.80% | 29[1] | + 10 | ||
| Opposition | 2,390 | 27.35% | 8 | – 5 | ||
| Independent | 1,613 | 18.46% | 6 | + 5 | ||
| Labor | 383 | 4.38% | +4.38% | 1 | + 1 | |
| Total | 8,737 | 44 | ||||
Notes:
