The 1907 Victorian state election was held in the Australian state of Victoria on Friday, 15 March 1907 to elect 45 of the 65 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The other 20 seats were uncontested.
The election was in one member districts, using first past the post (plurality) voting.
Ministerialists were a group of members of parliament who supported a government in office but were not bound by tight party discipline. Ministerialists represented loose pre-party groupings who held seats in state parliaments up to 1914. Such members ran for office as independents or under a variety of political labels but saw themselves as linked to other candidates by their support for a particular premier or government.
The National Citizens' Reform League, led by Thomas Bent, had disbanded shortly after the 1904 state election, leading to the majority of Liberals and Conservatives sitting separately again.
Bent formed the United Liberal Party in February 1907. Without Liberal Ministerialists and Liberal Oppositionists competing against each other, three-sided contests were largely eliminated, causing Labor to lose the seats of Ballarat and Geelong.
The Bent Ministry secured a decisive victory in the 1907 election, capturing 49 out of 65 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and securing its hold on power. This overwhelming majority, exceeding three-quarters of the chamber, ensured short-term political stability, as the Australian Labor Party controlled only 14 seats, leaving dependents with little capacity to challenge the government. Bent's fusionist alliance of Ministerialists, which combined conservative and moderate liberal functions, was able to govern without relying on crossbench support, enabling it to advance infrastructure projects and fiscally conservative policies with minimal resistance in the immediate aftermath of the election.
However, despite a strong parliamentary position, internal divisions began to weaken long-term cohesion. The alliance's mix of protectionist conservatives and free-trade supporters generated ideological conflicts, particularly over tariff policy and land transactions. Bent remained premier until January 8, 1909, when he resigned following a no-confidence motion introduced by John Murray, amid increasing criticism regarding alleged irregularities in public contracts and land dealings. Murray inherited a divided administration that ultimately fragmented prior to the 1911 election, demonstrating that the commanding 1907 victory had concealed deeper structural vulnerabilities rather than resolving them.
The government's stability was also challenged by external pressure, including economic instability and public accusations of corruption directed at Bent, which led to a royal commission in 1909 under Murray's leadership. Although the inquiry did not find Bent guilty of direct financial misconduct, it highlighted deficiencies in his administrative approach, reinforcing perceptions of weak governance and further straining the coalition. In sum, while the 1907 election extended Bent's tenure for nearly two years, it failed to establish lasting unity, ultimately contributing to political realignment in Victorian politics.