A by-election was held in the state electoral district of Ryde on 3 February 1945. The by-election was triggered by the death of James Shand (Independent Democrat).[1]
The by-election was won by Liberal candidate Eric Hearnshaw. This was the first election contested and first election won by the Liberal Party in New South Wales since the founding of its New South Wales division a month earlier in January 1945.[2] Hearnshaw also became the first Liberal Party member in the New South Wales parliament, as at the time, parliamentary members of the Democratic Party had yet to join the Liberal Party.[3]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 21 December 1944 | James Shand died.[1] |
| 10 January 1945 | Writ of election issued by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[4] |
| 19 January 1945 | Nominations |
| 3 February 1945 | Polling day |
| 16 February 1945 | Return of writ |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Eric Hearnshaw | 7,630 | 38.6 | +19.6 | |
| Labor | William Browne | 5,591 | 28.3 | +2.2 | |
| Independent | George Vaughan | 2,690 | 13.6 | ||
| Independent | William Irvine | 1,853 | 9.4 | ||
| Independent | Leonard McKay | 998 | 5.1 | ||
| Independent | Henry Brierly | 512 | 2.6 | ||
| Social Credit | Howard Miscamble | 382 | 1.9 | +0.5 | |
| Fair Deal | John Price | 102 | 0.5 | ||
| Total formal votes | 19,758 | 94.6 | -1.5 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,127 | 5.4 | +1.5 | ||
| Turnout | 20,885 | 83.9 | -8.5 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Eric Hearnshaw | 11,339 | 57.4 | ||
| Labor | William Browne | 8,419 | 42.6 | ||
| Liberal gain from Independent | Swing | N/A | |||