come, Nicklin instructed the Coalition to block supply as well, bringing the Gair government down. It had been the shortest session of Parliament in Queensland's history. Premiership In the ensuing 3 Augu57st election, every QLP MP faced an ALP challenger, while every ALP MP faced a QLP challenger. This created dozens of three-cornered contests, and the two Labor factions could not direct preferences to each other even if they'd wanted to do so. Taking advantage of the split in the Labor vote, Nicklin's Country-Liberal coalition came to power with 42 seats – the first non-Labor Government since 1932. The two Labor factions won only 31 seats between them. Nicklin was the first of six consecutive Country/National Party leaders to become Premier. Nicklin's first priority was to reverse the zonal electoral system in favour of his Government. Nicklin's redistribution was fairer than Hanlon's, but it still favoured the Country Party. The far-western region went down from five seats to three, and the provincial cities (which had traditionally voted ALP) were separated from their hinterlands, in which new Country Party seats were created. As a result, Liberals gained new seats in Brisbane, and in return they agreed not to contest the zonal electoral system, despite the fact that it allowed the Country Party to be the senior coalition partner even if it won fewer votes than the Liberal Party (which it did after 1966). Another electoral reform in the form of compulsory preferential voting was introduced in 1960, when it became clear that the QLP no longer posed a threat, and that QLP voters were likely to give their preferences to a Country-Liberal coalition over the ALP in any event. Largely on the strength of QLP preferences, the Coalition scored a healthy four-seat swing in the 1960 state election—the first time since 1912 that a non-Labor government had been reelected. The QLP eventually became the Queensland branch of the Democratic Labor Party. The Country and Liberal Parties enjoyed a harmonious relationship, with Nicklin and Liberal leader Kenneth Morris being friends as well as colleagues. The parties had some disputes over seat allocation in the mid-1960s, and Morris was not always an easy man to work with, but on the whole the Nicklin Government saw a period of remarkably cordial relations between the Nationals and Liberals, especially compared with the strife of later years. Morris retired in 1962 and was succeeded by Sir