Victoria is earning a reputation for producing surprising election results. According to political commentators and the opinion polls, the 1999 election was expected to return the Coalition Government and the 2010 election was expected to return the Labor Government, yet neither did.

Even though the polls had long placed Labor ahead of the Coalition, the party’s election to office at the 2014 election was still regarded as a significant outcome.

This was because of the removal of the Coalition Government after only one term in power, when history has shown us that governments in Victoria are often likely to consolidate their position at their first return to the ballot box. It had been more than half a century since Victoria experienced a single term government, in 1952-55, and it was a casualty of the split of the Australian Labor Party.

It should be noted however, that the close numbers in the Legislative Assembly in the last Parliament — 44 Coalition, 43 Labor and one Independent, and the redistribution of the state’s electoral boundaries, meant that Labor required a notional uniform swing of only around 1 per cent to gain government.

The election result was that Labor secured government by obtaining a total of 47 seats in the 88 seat Parliament with a swing of 3.6 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

This election is also historic for the election of two representatives of the Greens Party into the Legislative Assembly: the first time the party has won seats in the Lower House in Victoria. Also, notable, was the election of an Independent in what had been a very safe National Party seat (Shepparton).

The make-up of the Legislative Council after the election was also significantly changed. Neither of the major parties won a majority in the Upper House, and the Greens and four other minor parties won ten seats between them.

As stated earlier, this paper provides a description and analysis of the results the 2014 Victorian state election, set out in three main sections.

Part A of the paper provides some context to the outcome of the election by examining the redistribution of Victoria’s state electoral boundaries, and key issues during the life of the 57th Parliament.

Part B of the paper provides an overview of the election campaign, the leaders’ debate, preference deals, social media, key policies, and polls data in the lead up to, and during the campaign. This section also includes a brief overview of the minor parties.

Part C of the paper examines the outcomes of the election in both houses and how the parties fared. It also contains a short section on women MPs, new and departing MPs, voter turnout, and the number of candidates contesting the election. Part C also provides statistical tables for each district and region and additional tables and information on relevant voter statistics.