ten days thereafter. Nominations must close on a date seven to 21 days after the issuance of the writ, and polling day must be a Saturday between 15 and 30 days after nominations close, meaning the election was required to take place by 14 May 2022. On 26 March 2021, Premier Peter Gutwein announced a snap election for 1 May 2021. Background The previous election in 2018 saw the Liberal Party led by Will Hodgman retain government, winning 13 seats compared to the Labor Party's 10 seats and the Greens with 2. Despite holding a one-seat majority, the Liberal Government's choice for Speaker was rejected by the Assembly shortly after the new parliament began sitting in May 2018. Liberal party member Sue Hickey was elected to the Speakership with the support of Labor and the Greens. Hickey revealed she would vote independently on government bills though said she would "always support the Liberal Government" on confidence and supply. Hickey's vote proved to be critical in several parliamentary votes opposed by the Liberal Government, most notably in advancing transgender-related birth certificate reforms and blocking legislation that would have imposed mandatory sentences for serious child sexual assaults; citing "significant concerns from the legal profession" and "unintended consequences to the detriment of the victims". This composition of seating arrangements ended in September 2019, when former Labor parliamentarian-turned-independent Madeleine Ogilvie replaced Labor MP Scott Bacon. Meanwhile on 14 January 2020, Hodgman announced his resignation as leader of the Liberal Party, Premier of Tasmania and member of parliament, citing the toll of his political career on his family. Mr Hodgman cited the two years left of the four year term as allowing continuing good government. On 20 January, Treasurer Peter Gutwein was elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Party, and was subsequently sworn in as Tasmania's 46th Premier later that day. On 23 March 2021, only three days before Gutwein called the snap election, Hickey was told by Gutwein she would not be given the support of the Liberal Party to run for re-election as a Liberal candidate in the seat of Clark. Shortly thereafter Hickey quit the party to sit as an independent, which formally transitioned the Liberals into a minority government. Hickey also confirmed she would run for re-election as an independent candidate. On 28 March, two days after the election was called and the House of Assembly was dissolved, Ogilvie announced