1947 Western Australian state election

26 Assembly seats were needed for a majority

The election was the Liberal Party's first major showing since its formation in 1944-1945 out of the former Nationalist Party. Coincidental with this, in 1944, was the significant change in the fortunes of the Country Party when the Primary Producers' Association, of which the Party had been the political wing, passed a motion during negotiations with the Wheatgrowers' Union deleting the rule which authorised the Party's existence and its use of PPA branches and funds for party purposes. A new organisation, was hastily set up by the Opposition Leader Arthur Watts and the member for Pingelly, Harrie Seward, who were very active in setting up branches to endorse local candidates and obtaining donations on which to run the 1947 campaign.

Despite leading the Opposition prior to the election Country Party leader Watts did not become Premier with the change of government. The Country Party had been the senior partner in the non-Labor Coalition for most of the 1930s and 1940s. However, the election saw the Country Party win one fewer seat than the Liberals. As a result, Liberal leader Ross McLarty became Premier, with Watts as his deputy. It is one instance in which an Opposition leader did not become Premier with an election producing a change of government. This was the start of a significant decline in the Country Party's fortunes over the ensuing decades; the party, now the WA Nationals, has never won more than nine seats at an election since.

As of 2024, this was the last Western Australian state election that the Country Party/National party received over 10% of the vote.