A by-election for the seat of Dale in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia was held on 7 May 1988. It was triggered by the resignation of Cyril Rushton (the sitting Liberal member and a former deputy premier) on 25 February 1988. The seat was retained by the Liberal Party, with their candidate, Fred Tubby, winning 59.1 percent of the two-candidate-preferred (2CP) vote. The Labor Party did not stand at the election, despite having lost the seat by less than 400 votes at the 1986 state election. A former Labor candidate, Michael Marsh, won 40.9 percent of the 2CP vote standing as an independent.
Background.
Cyril Rushton had held Dale for the Liberal Party since a 1965 by-election, and served as a minister in the governments of Sir Charles Court and Ray O'Connor (including as deputy premier under the latter). Rushton underwent open-heart surgery in August 1987, and missed much of the following parliamentary session. He resigned from parliament on 25 February 1988, and the writ for the by-election was issued on 30 March, with the close of nominations on 14 April. Polling day was on 7 May, with the writ returned on 12 May.
Results.
! scope="col" colspan="2" style="width: 130px"|Party
! scope="col" style="width: 17em"|Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em"|Votes
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em"|%
! scope="col" style="width: 3.5em"| ;templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" / ;±%
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total formal votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Informal votes
! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" scope=row | Turnout
! colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" |Two-candidate-preferred result
Aftermath.
Tubby joined his father, Reg Tubby, in parliament, and the pair served together until Reg's retirement at the 1989 state election (a period of less than a year). The seat of Dale was abolished in a redistribution prior to that same election, and Fred Tubby switched to the new seat of Roleystone, which he held until his defeat at the 2001 state election.
References.
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