1955 Australian federal election

Australian federal election, 1955

10 December 1955
All 122 seats of the Australian House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 30 (of the 60) seats of the Australian Senate
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies H.V. Evatt Party Liberal/Country coalition Labor Leader since 23 September 1943 13 June 1951 Leader's seat Kooyong Barton Last election 64 seats 57 seats Seats won 75 seats 47 seats Seat change 11 10 Percentage 54.20% 45.80% Swing 4.90 4.90
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition Elected Prime Minister Robert Menzies Liberal/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Arthur Fadden defeated the Australian Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.00% (CV) — Informal 2.88%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Australian Labor Party	1,961,829	44.63	−5.40	47	−10
	Liberal Party of Australia	1,746,485	39.73	+1.43	57	+10	(5 elected unopposed)
	Country Party	347,445	7.90	−0.61	18	+1	(5 elected unopposed)
	Anti-Communist Labor Party	227,083	5.17	*	0	0
	Other	112,693	2.56		0	0
	Total	4,395,535			122	+1
	Liberal/Country coalition	WIN	54.20	+4.90	75	+11
	Australian Labor Party		45.80	−4.90	47	−10

This would be the last federal election where any seat attracted only one candidate, who was elected unopposed.

Popular Vote
Labor			44.63%
Liberal			39.73%
Country			7.90%
ALP AC			5.17%
Other			2.56%

Two Party Preferred Vote
Coalition			54.20%
Labor			45.80%

Parliament Seats
Coalition			61.48%
Labor			38.52%

Senate (STV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.01% (CV) — Informal 9.63%

	Party	Votes	%	Swing	Seats Won	Seats Held	Change
	Australian Labor Party	1,803,335	40.61	−10.01	12	28	−1
	Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket)	1,748,878	39.38	+12.93	8	*
	Liberal Party of Australia	384,732	8.66	−9.32	8	24	−2
	Anti-Communist Labor Party	271,067	6.10	*	1	2	+2
	Communist Party of Australia	161,869	3.64	+0.59	0	0	0
	Country Party	27,850	0.63	+0.63	1	6	+1
	Other	43,294	0.97		0	0
	Total	4,612,059			30	60

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1955				Swing	Post-1955
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Ballaarat, Vic		Labor	Bob Joshua*	2.6	10.7	7.9	Dudley Erwin	Liberal
Hume, NSW		Labor	Arthur Fuller	2,2	3.5	2.2	Charles Anderson	Country
Maribyrnong, Vic		Labor	Arthur Drakeford	16.1	7.5	0.1	Philip Stokes	Liberal
Perth, WA		Labor	Tom Burke	2.3	3.8	1.5	Fred Chaney	Liberal
Philip, NSW		Labor	Joe Fitzgerald	8.9	5.7	1.1	William Aston	Liberal
St George, NSW		Labor	Nelson Lemmon	2.7	5.8	3.4	Bill Graham	Liberal

• * Bob Joshua contested his seat as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist).

History

In 1949, Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party of Australia (descended from the United Australia Party), which was led by Menzies for 16 years through successive elections with the traditional coalition in place with the Country Party. Labor stayed out of government for 23 years after the defeat of the Chifley government in 1949, largely due to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955 and the subsequent splinter-group Democratic Labor Party. Labor nevertheless won the two-party-preferred vote (the 1954, 1961 and 1969 elections), but not enough seats to form government. The election saw the peak of the Communist Party Senate vote, with 161,869 at 3.64 percent.

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1955
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1955–1958
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1956–1959

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
• AEC 2PP vote
• Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.