1866 Victorian colonial election

1866 Victorian colonial election

← 1864 30 December 1865 to 29 January 1866 1868 →
All 78 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly
First party Second party   Leader James McCulloch Richard Ireland Party Moderate Liberal Conservative (Free Trade) Leader's seat Mornington Kilmore Seats won 58 20 Percentage 63.38 36.62
Premier before election James McCulloch Liberal Elected Premier James McCulloch Liberal

The 1866 Victorian colonial election was held from 30 December 1865 to 29 January 1866 to elect the 5th Parliament of Victoria. All 78 seats in 49 electorates in the Legislative Assembly were up for election, though ten seats were uncontested.^[1]

There were 24 single-member, 21 two-member and 4 three-member electorates.^[1]

The 1866 general election was called when the Legislative Council rejected the McCulloch government's bill for a protective tariff and the Governor, Sir Charles Darling, agreed to a dissolution of parliament over the issue.^[2][3] McCulloch and his protectionist supporters easily won the election and remained in office throughout this parliament.^[1]