Australian federal election, 1917

Australian federal election, 1917
Australia
5 May 1917 (1917-05-05)

All 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
18 (of the 36) seats in the Australian Senate
  First party Second party
 
Leader Billy Hughes Frank Tudor
Party Nationalist Labor
Leader since 14 November 1916 14 November 1916
Leader's seat Bendigo Yarra
Last election 32 seats 42 seats
Seats won 53 seats 22 seats
Seat change Increase21 Decrease20
Popular vote 1,021,138 827,541
Percentage 54.22% 43.94%
Swing Increase7.01 Decrease6.96

Prime Minister before election

Billy Hughes
Nationalist

Resulting Prime Minister

Billy Hughes
Nationalist

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia (a result of a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and National Labor Party) led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Frank Tudor.

Hughes, at the time a member of the ALP, had become Prime Minister when Andrew Fisher retired in 1915. The Australian Labor Party split of 1916 over World War I conscription in Australia had led Hughes and 24 other pro-conscription Labor MPs to split off as the National Labor Party, which was able to form a minority government supported by the Commonwealth Liberal Party, led by Joseph Cook. Later that year, National Labor and the Liberals merged to form the Nationalist Party, with Hughes as leader and Cook as deputy leader. The election was fought in the aftermath of the 1916 plebiscite on conscription, which had been narrowly defeated. The Nationalists won a decisive victory, securing the largest majority government since Federation. The ALP suffered a large electoral swing against it, losing almost seven percent of its vote from 1914. The swing was magnified by the large number of former Labor MPs who followed Hughes out of the party.

Results

House of Reps 1917–19 (FPTP) — Turnout 78.30% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.64%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change Notes
  Nationalist Party of Australia 1,021,138 54.22 +7.01 53 +21 (7 elected
unopposed)
  Australian Labor Party 827,541 43.94 -6.96 22 -20 (3 elected
unopposed)
  Independents 34,755 1.85 0.05 0 -1
  Total 1,883,434     75
  Nationalist Party of Australia WIN 53 +21
  Australian Labor Party 22 20


Popular Vote
Nationalist
 
54.22%
Labor
 
43.94%
Independent
 
1.85%
Parliament Seats
Nationalist
 
70.67%
Labor
 
29.33%
Senate 1917–19 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 77.69% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A
Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held Change
  Nationalist Party of Australia 3,516,354 55.37 +7.60 18 24 +19
  Australian Labor Party 2,776,648 43.72 8.42 0 12 19
  Other 57,368 0.90 0 0 0
  Total 6,350,370     18 36

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1917 Swing Post-1917
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Bass, Tas   Labor Jens Jensen 6.0 15.9 9.9 Jens Jensen Nationalist  
Bendigo, Vic   Labor Alfred Hampson 0.9 12.5 7.4 Billy Hughes Nationalist  
Boothby, SA   Labor George Dankel 5.3 19.8 14.5 William Story Nationalist  
Corio, Vic   Labor Alfred Ozanne 1.2 8.5 7.3 John Lister Nationalist  
Darwin, Tas   Labor King O'Malley 6.1 14.9 8.8 Charles Howroyd Nationalist  
Denison, Tas   Labor William Laird Smith 5.9 12.2 6.3 William Laird Smith Nationalist  
Fawkner, Vic   Labor Joseph Hannan 9.3 10.7 N/A George Maxwell Nationalist  
Fremantle, WA   Labor Reginald Burchell 6.3 25.2 18.9 Reginald Burchell Nationalist  
Gippsland, Vic   Independent George Wise 1.0 24.7 22.7 George Wise Nationalist  
Grey, SA   Labor Alexander Poynton 4.0 11.7 7.7 Alexander Poynton Nationalist  
Gwydir, NSW   Labor William Webster 3.8 10.3 6.5 William Webster Nationalist  
Herbert, Qld   Labor Fred Bamford 14.4 15.7 1.3 Fred Bamford Nationalist  
Hindmarsh, SA   Labor William Archibald 24.4 30.2 5.8 William Archibald Nationalist  
Illawarra, NSW   Labor George Burns 4.2 8.5 4.3 Hector Lamond Nationalist  
Indi, Vic   Labor Parker Moloney 1.0 7.2 6.2 John Leckie Nationalist  
Kalgoorlie, WA   Labor Hugh Mahon 100.0 51.3 1.3 Edward Heitmann Nationalist  
Oxley, Qld   Labor James Sharpe 6.8 9.6 2.3 James Bayley Nationalist  
Werriwa, NSW   Labor John Lynch 0.0 2.8 2.8 John Lynch Nationalist  

Post-election pendulum

GOVERNMENT SEATS
Nationalist Party of Australia
Marginal
Moreton (Qld) Hugh Sinclair NAT 00.1
Angas (SA) Paddy Glynn NAT 00.8
Kalgoorlie (WA) Edward Heitmann NAT 01.3
Herbert (Qld) Fred Bamford NAT 01.3
Fawkner (Vic) George Maxwell NAT 01.4
Calare (NSW) Henry Pigott NAT 01.8
Hume (NSW) Franc Falkiner NAT 01.9
Werriwa (NSW) John Lynch NAT 02.8
Oxley (Qld) James Bayley NAT 02.8
Wide Bay (Qld) Edward Corser NAT 02.9
Illawarra (NSW) Hector Lamond NAT 04.3
Wannon (Vic) Arthur Rodgers NAT 04.8
Hindmarsh (SA) William Archibald NAT 05.8
Fairly safe
Darling Downs (Qld) Littleton Groom NAT 06.1
Robertson (NSW) William Fleming NAT 06.2
Wakefield (SA) Richard Foster NAT 06.2
Indi (Vic) John Leckie NAT 06.2
Denison (Tas) William Laird Smith NAT 06.3
Gwydir (NSW) William Webster NAT 06.5
Grampians (Vic) Carty Salmon NAT 07.0
Eden-Monaro (NSW) Austin Chapman NAT 07.2
Corio (Vic) John Lister NAT 07.3
Bendigo (Vic) Billy Hughes NAT 07.4
Grey (SA) Alexander Poynton NAT 07.7
Darwin (Tas) Charles Howroyd NAT 08.8
Riverina (NSW) John Chanter NAT 09.2 vs IND
Bass (Tas) Alexander Poynton NAT 09.9
Safe
Corangamite (Vic) Chester Manifold NAT 10.4
Lang (NSW) Elliot Johnson NAT 10.4
Nepean (NSW) Richard Orchard NAT 10.5
Echuca (Vic) Albert Palmer NAT 10.7
Flinders (Vic) William Irvine NAT 11.2
Lilley (Qld) George Mackay NAT 12.7
Barker (SA) John Livingston NAT 13.9
Wilmot (Tas) Llewellyn Atkinson NAT 14.2
Boothby (SA) William Story NAT 14.5
Parkes (NSW) Bruce Smith NAT 15.4
Balaclava (Vic) William Watt NAT 16.6
Wentworth (NSW) Willie Kelly NAT 18.5
Fremantle (WA) Reginald Burchell NAT 18.9
Perth (WA) James Fowler NAT 19.5
Very safe
Henty (Vic) James Boyd NAT 20.6
Dampier (WA) Henry Gregory NAT 21.4
Gippsland (Vic) George Wise NAT 22.7
Parramatta (NSW) Joseph Cook NAT 23.8 vs IND
Richmond (NSW) Walter Massy-Greene NAT 25.2
Cowper (NSW) John Thomson NAT unopposed
Franklin (Tas) William McWilliams NAT unopposed
Kooyong (Vic) Robert Best NAT unopposed
New England (NSW) Percy Abbott NAT unopposed
North Sydney (NSW) Granville Ryrie NAT unopposed
Swan (WA) John Forrest NAT unopposed
Wimmera (Vic) Sydney Sampson NAT unopposed
NON-GOVERNMENT SEATS
Australian Labor Party
Marginal
Macquarie (NSW) Samuel Nicholls ALP 00.0
Brisbane (Qld) William Finlayson ALP 00.0
Maribyrnong (Vic) James Fenton ALP 02.2
Capricornia (Qld) William Higgs ALP 02.3
Barrier (NSW) Michael Considine ALP 02.5 vs IND
Darling (NSW) Arthur Blakeley ALP 03.3
Hunter (NSW) Matthew Charlton ALP 03.4
Dalley (NSW) William Mahony ALP 04.0
Bourke (Vic) Frank Anstey ALP 04.5
Maranoa (Qld) Jim Page ALP 04.8
Fairly safe
Newcastle (NSW) David Watkins ALP 08.0
Safe
Melbourne (Vic) William Maloney ALP 10.3
Batman (Vic) Frank Brennan ALP 10.9
Kennedy (Qld) Charles McDonald ALP 12.8
South Sydney (NSW) Edward Riley ALP 13.3
Cook (NSW) James Catts ALP 14.4
Melbourne Ports (Vic) James Mathews ALP 16.3
West Sydney (NSW) Con Wallace ALP 16.5
Very safe
Yarra (Vic) Frank Tudor ALP 21.3
Adelaide (SA) Edwin Yates ALP unopposed
Ballaarat (Vic) Charles McGrath ALP unopposed
East Sydney (NSW) John West ALP unopposed

See also

Notes

    References

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