2014 Tasmanian state election

2014 Tasmanian state election

← 2010 15 March 2014 2018 →
All 25 seats in the House of Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Will Hodgman Lara Giddings Nick McKim Party Liberal Labor Greens Leader since 30 March 2006 24 January 2011 7 July 2008 Leader's seat Franklin Franklin Franklin Last election 10 seats; 38.99% 10 seats; 36.88% 5 seats; 21.61% Seats won 15 seats 7 seats 3 seats Seat change  5  3  2 Popular vote 167,051 89,130 45,098 Percentage 51.22% 27.33% 13.83% Swing  12.23  9.55  7.78
Results of the election
Premier before election Lara Giddings Labor Elected Premier Will Hodgman Liberal

The 2014 Tasmanian state election was held on 15 March 2014 to elect all 25 members to the House of Assembly.^[1] The 16-year incumbent Labor government, led by the Premier of Tasmania Lara Giddings, sought to win a fifth consecutive term in government, but was defeated by the Liberal opposition, led by Opposition Leader Will Hodgman, in a landslide victory.^[2] Also contesting the election was the Greens led by Nick McKim. The Palmer United Party made a significant effort in the election.

The House of Assembly uses the proportional Hare-Clark system to elect 25 members in five constituencies electing five members each. Elections to the Legislative Council are conducted separately from House of Assembly elections. The election was conducted by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.

Before the election, Hodgman had indicated that he would only govern in majority. ABC News election analyst Antony Green suggested Hodgman's promise could have come back to haunt him if Palmer United were to siphon off enough votes to deny the Liberals enough seats for a majority in their own right.^[3] However, this became moot after the Liberals picked up an additional seat in every electorate except Denison, assuring them a majority.^[4] By 10:00 pm on election night, with the Liberals assured of winning at least 14 seats, Giddings conceded defeat on behalf of Labor.^[5] Ultimately, the Liberals won 15 seats, a decisive majority.^[6] Although this was just two more seats than necessary for a majority, under Tasmanian electoral practice of the time, winning 15 seats was considered a comprehensive victory.^[3]

Hodgman took office on 31 March 2014, becoming only the fifth non-Labor premier in 80 years and only the third to govern in majority.

Later, Giddings resigned as Labor party leader, and was succeeded by outgoing Deputy Premier Bryan Green on 31 March 2014.