The Tasmanian Legislative Council

Tasmanian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the House of Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart...

 has fifteen single member constituencies.

Members of the Legislative Council serve for a six year term. An election is called one year for two of the fifteen divisions, the next year an election is called in three divisions, this is done on a rotating basis.

Until 1999 the Legislative Council had 19 electorates, but following parliamentary law reform passed by Tony Rundle

Tony Rundle

Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO was the Premier of the Australian State of Tasmania from 18 March 1996 to 14 September 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He is a Liberal who held the seat of Braddon between 1986 and 2002. A former journalist, he is married to...

's government the number of divisions was reduced to 15. Each electorate contains an average 22,000 enrolled voters.

The Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 has been the most successful political party, in electing candidates to the council. A total of 18 Labor politicians have been a member of the council. By comparison the Liberal Party has only ever had two members, one of whom Peter McKay

Peter McKay (Australian politician)

Peter Charles McKay was a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1976 until 1999.McKay was first elected as an independent member in the Electoral division of Pembroke after his father, Ben McKay died in office...

 was originally an independent before converting to the party.

Divisions

• Apsley
  Electoral division of Apsley
  The Electoral division of Apsley is one of the 15 electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. It is the second-largest upper house electorate in the state by area after Murchison....
  
  
• Derwent
  Electoral division of Derwent
  The Electoral division of Derwent is one of the fifteen electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. It is situated in the south of the state and is named after the Derwent River.The last boundary redistribution occurred in 2008...
  
  
• Elwick
  Electoral division of Elwick
  The Electoral division of Elwick is one of the 15 Tasmanian Legislative Council electorates or seats. It covers the Glenorchy municipality with an area of 103 km², with 24,994 enrolled voters as of October 2010.....
  
  
• Hobart
  Electoral division of Hobart
  The electoral division of Hobart is one of the fifteen electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. The seat was created in 2008 after a redistribution saw the former Wellington returned to its former name....
  
  
• Huon
  Electoral division of Huon
  The Electoral division of Huon is one of the fifteen electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. It was created in 1999, however similar electorates of this name have existed since 1900 , and members of the Tasmanian upper house for this region appear to have been elected since 1856...
  
  
• Launceston
• Mersey
  Electoral division of Mersey
  The Electoral division of Mersey is one of the fifteen constituencies in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. The division covers only a small area of 237 km².At the 2009 election, the division had 23,568 enrolled voters....
  
  
• Montgomery
  Electoral division of Montgomery
  The Electoral division of Montgomery is one of the fifteen electorates in the Tasmanian Legislative Council.It is centred around the Central Coast area and includes the localities of; Ulverstone, Penguin, Heybridge, Hampshire and West Pine....
  
  
• Murchison
  Electoral division of Murchison
  The Electoral division of Murchison is one of the fifteen electorates in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. It is the largest electorate in size, covering an area of 19,421 km²....
  
  
• Nelson
• Pembroke
  Electoral division of Pembroke
  The Electoral Division of Pembroke is one of the 15 electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian Legislative Council or upper house. It is located on Hobart's Eastern Shore and includes a number of suburbs; Risdon Vale, Geilston Bay, Rose Bay, Lindisfarne, Warrane, Mornington, Bellerive, Howrah and...
  
  
• Rosevears
  Electoral division of Rosevears
  The electoral division of Rosevears is one of the 15 electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian upper house. The division is located on the west side of the Tamar River...
  
  
• Rumney
  Electoral division of Rumney
  The Electoral division of Rumney is one of the 15 electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian Legislative Council . The division is located in Southern Tasmania to the east of the division of Pembroke....
  
  
• Western Tiers
  Electoral division of Western Tiers
  The electoral division of Western Tiers is one of the fifteen electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. The seat was created in 2008 after a redistribution saw the former Rowallan renamed after the Great Western Tiers mountain range in Tasmania's central highlands .The current...
  
  
• Windermere
  Electoral division of Windermere
  The electoral division of Windermere is one of the 15 electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian Legislative Council. The division is located on the East side of the Tamar River...
  
  

Abolished Divisions

• Brighton (1851–1856)
• Buckingham (1851–1999)
• Cambridge (1856–1946)
• Campbell Town (1851–1856)
• Cornwall (1851–1856, 1946–1999)
• Cumberland (1851–1856)
• Emu Bay (1997–1999)
• Glamorgan (1855–1856)
• Gordon (1899–1999)
• Hobart Town (1851–1857)
• Jordan (1856–1885)
• Leven (1997–1999)
• Longford (1853–1903)
• Macquarie (1886–1999)
• Meander (1856–1997)
• Monmouth (1946–1999)
• Morven (1855–1856)
• Newdegate (1946–1999)
• New Norfolk (1851–1856)
• North Esk (1855–1901)
• Paterson
  Electoral division of Paterson
  The electoral division of Paterson was one of the 15 electorates or 'seats' in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1999 to 2008 when a redistribution saw it reverted to its original name of Launceston....
  
   (1999–2008)
• Queenborough (1947–1999)
• Richmond (1851–1856)
• Roland (1997–1999)
• Rowallan
  Electoral division of Rowallan
  The Electoral division of Rowallan was one of the 15 Tasmanian Legislative Council electorates or seats from 1999 to 2008, but it was re-named 'Western Tiers' in 2008 after a redistribution of boundaries....
  
   (1999–2008)
• Russell (1885–1909)
• Sorell (1851–1856)
• South Esk (1856–1999)
• Tamar (1856–1997)
• Wellington
  Electoral division of Wellington
  The Electoral division of Wellington was one of the 15 electorates or seats in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1999 to 2008. It covered the Hobart suburbs of Battery Point, New Town, West Hobart, Moonah, Mount Stuart, Lutana and Lenah Valley...
  
   (1999–2008)
• Westbury (1851–1856)
• West Devon (1947–1997)
• Westmorland (1885–1999)