Ministerialists and Oppositionists (Western Australia)

rdf:langString Ministerialists and Oppositionists (Western Australia)

rdf:langString Ministerialists and Oppositionists (Western Australia) were political groupings that were in force in the Western Australian parliament between 1890 and 1911. At the establishment of the WA parliament in 1890, Ministerialists were defined as those who supported the government of the day (led by John Forrest), while Oppositionists were opposed to it. Multiple candidates for each grouping could run for a given seat. The Australian Labour Party (ALP) was the only major grouping outside this structure. Additionally, some candidates ran as an "Independent". At the 1901 WA election, the Ministerialists (aligned with Forrest) lost to the Oppositionists (led by George Leake). However, the labels stuck to the groupings, and the "Oppositionists" now had power and the ministries. This strange use of nomenclature ceased with the defeat of the Oppositionists by the Ministerialists at the 1904 election. Around this point, the term "Oppositionist" ceased to be used. The Ministerialists were then to retain power until their defeat by the ALP at the 1911 election. Immediately after this, the Ministerialist grouping became the centre-right Western Australian Liberal Party (1911–17) under the continued guidance of John Forrest. In the 1920s, the centre-right Nationalist party (heirs to the Liberal Party) retained the practice of allowing multiple party candidates to compete against each other in a single member seat. Despite the centre-right parties being in opposition at the time, the Ministerialist term was still used to describe them in WA politics in the 1920s and in the 1940s. The term had long ceased to have any connection to the holding of ministries.