Australian federal election, 1931

Australian federal election, 1931
Australia
19 December 1931

All 75 seats of the Australian House of Representatives
38 seats were needed for a majority in the House
18 (of the 36) seats of the Australian Senate
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Joseph Lyons James Scullin Jack Lang
Party UAP/Country coalition Labor Labor (NSW)
Leader since 7 May 1931 26 April 1928 31 July 1923
Leader's seat Wilmot Yarra Did not run
Last election 24 seats 46 seats new party
Seats won 56 seats 14 seats 4 seats
Seat change Increase32 Decrease32 Increase4
Percentage 58.50% 41.50%
Swing Increase15.20 Decrease15.20

Prime Minister before election

James Scullin
Labor

Subsequent Prime Minister

Joseph Lyons
UAP/Country coalition

Federal elections were held in Australia on 19 December 1931. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia James Scullin was defeated by the newly formed opposition United Australia Party--a merger of the Nationalist Party of Australia with several Labor dissidents led by Joseph Lyons, who became leader of the merged party. The UAP fought the election in the traditional non-Labor Coalition with the Country Party, led by Earle Page, but won enough seats to form a majority UAP government. But with the historic Australian Labor Party split of 1931 it was not nearly enough to stave off severe defeat. To date, it is the last time that a sitting government in Australia has been denied a second term.

Results

House of Reps (IRV) — 1931–34—Turnout 95.04% (CV) — Informal 3.48%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change Notes
  United Australia Party 1,145,083 36.10 +2.20 34 +20 (1 elected
unopposed)
  Australian Labor Party 859,513 27.10 21.74 14 32
  Country Party 388,544 12.25 +1.98 16 +6 (3 elected
unopposed)
  Australian Labor Party (NSW) 335,309 10.57 * 4 +4
  Emergency Committee (SA) 174,288 5.49 * 6 +6
  Independents 260,786 8.22 +6.09 1 3
  Other 8,511 0.27 0 1
  Total 3,172,034     75
  UAP/Country coalition WIN 58.50 +15.20 56 +32
  Australian Labor Party 41.50 −15.20 14 32

Independent: Littleton Groom (Darling Downs, Qld)

Popular Vote
United Australia
 
36.10%
Labor
 
27.10%
Country
 
12.25%
Labor (NSW)
 
10.57%
Emergency Committee (SA)
 
5.49%
Others
 
0.27%
Independent
 
8.22%
Two Party Preferred Vote
Coalition
 
58.50%
Labor
 
41.50%
Parliament Seats
Coalition
 
74.67%
Labor
 
18.67%
Emergency Committee (SA)
 
8.00%
Labor (NSW)
 
5.33%
Independent
 
1.33%
Senate (P BV) — 1931–34—Turnout 95.02% (CV) — Informal 9.60%
Party Votes % Swing Seats Won Seats Held Change
  UAP/Country (Joint Ticket) 945,741 30.16 * 6
  Australian Labor Party 917,218 29.25 19.70 3 10 +3
  United Australia Party 791,870 25.26 14.02 9 21 3
  Australian Labor Party (NSW) 379,870 12.12 * 0 0 0
  Communist Party of Australia 29,443 0.94 * 0 0 0
  Country Party * * 11.18 0 5 0
  Independents 71,181 2.27 +1.68 0 0 0
  Total 3,135,323     18 36

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1931 Swing Post-1931
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Adelaide, SA   Labor Edwin Yates 11.4 21.0 9.6 Fred Stacey Emergency Committee  
Angas, SA   Labor Moses Gabb 4.7 31.5 26.8 Moses Gabb Emergency Committee  
Ballaarat, Vic   Labor Charles McGrath 7.4 20.7 13.3 Charles McGrath United Australia  
Barton, NSW   Labor James Tully 17.6 20.8 3.2 Albert Lane United Australia  
Bass, Tas   Labor Allan Guy 10.4 24.9 14.5 Allan Guy United Australia  
Batman, Vic   Labor Frank Brennan 25.8 26.6 0.8 Samuel Dennis United Australia  
Bendigo, Vic   Labor Richard Keane 5.1 14.6 9.5 Eric Harrison United Australia  
Boothby, SA   Labor John Price 5.6 29.6 24.0 John Price Emergency Committee  
Brisbane, Qld   United Australia Donald Charles Cameron 2.4 3.1 0.7 George Lawson Labor  
Calare, NSW   Labor George Gibbons 1.6 11.7 10.1 Harold Thorby Country  
Corangamite, Vic   Labor Richard Crouch 2.1 15.0 12.9 William Gibson Country  
Corio, Vic   Labor Arthur Lewis 6.0 16.6 10.6 Richard Casey United Australia  
Dalley, NSW   Labor Ted Theodore N/A 8.9 14.0 Sol Rosevear Labor (NSW)  
Darling Downs, Qld   United Australia Arthur Morgan N/A 17.7 9.8 Littleton Groom Independent  
Denison, Tas   Labor Charles Culley 9.2 14.2 5.0 Arthur Hutchin United Australia  
East Sydney, NSW   Labor (NSW) Eddie Ward 5.7 11.7 1.7 John Clasby United Australia  
Eden-Monaro, NSW   Labor John Cusack 0.1 13.7 13.6 John Perkins United Australia  
Fawkner, Vic   Independent Nationalist George Maxwell N/A 21.7 20.3 George Maxwell United Australia  
Flinders, Vic   Labor Jack Holloway 0.2 18.5 18.3 Stanley Bruce United Australia  
Franklin, Tas   Labor Charles Frost 1.9 13.0 17.9 Archibald Blacklow United Australia  
Fremantle, WA   Labor John Curtin 7.0 13.5 5.5 William Watson United Australia  
Grey, SA   Labor Andrew Lacey 9.6 17.1 7.5 Philip McBride Emergency Committee  
Gwydir, NSW   Labor Lou Cunningham 3.7 13.5 9.8 Aubrey Abbott Country  
Hume, NSW   Labor Parker Moloney 6.6 14.1 7.5 Thomas Collins Country  
Hunter, NSW   Labor Rowley James 100.0 57.2 7.2 Rowley James Labor (NSW)  
Indi, Vic   Labor Paul Jones 1.4 14.4 13.0 William Hutchinson United Australia  
Lang, NSW   Labor William Long 16.2 20.4 4.2 Dick Dein United Australia  
Macquarie, NSW   Labor Ben Chifley 15.6 16.2 0.6 John Lawson United Australia  
Maribyrnong, Vic   Labor James Fenton 23.2 23.6 0.4 James Fenton United Australia  
Martin, NSW   Labor John Eldridge 6.4 22.7 16.3 William Holman United Australia  
North Sydney, NSW   Independent Nationalist Billy Hughes 16.1 23.6 7.5 Billy Hughes United Australia  
Oxley, Qld   United Australia James Bayley 0.1 5.9 5.8 Francis Baker Labor  
Parramatta, NSW   Labor Albert Rowe 3.3 19.5 16.2 Frederick Stewart United Australia  
Reid, NSW   Labor Percy Coleman N/A 55.3 5.3 Joe Gander Labor (NSW)  
South Sydney, NSW   Labor Edward Riley 16.3 21.4 5.1 John Jennings United Australia  
Wannon, Vic   Labor John McNeill 2.0 14.3 12.3 Thomas Scholfield United Australia  
Wentworth, NSW   Independent Nationalist Walter Marks 8.3 58.3 15.8 Eric Harrison United Australia  
Werriwa, NSW   Labor Bert Lazzarini 15.4 17.1 1.7 Walter McNicoll Country  
West Sydney, NSW   Labor Jack Beasley 36.5 11.4 15.1 Jack Beasley Labor (NSW)  
Wimmera, Vic   Country Progressive Percy Stewart N/A 21.8 11.8 Hugh McClelland Country  
Wilmot, Tas   Labor Joseph Lyons 2.9 25.0 22.1 Joseph Lyons United Australia  

Issues

The election was dominated by the Great Depression in Australia, which was at its height. As the Labor Government had come to office two days before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, it was seen as being responsible for many of the economic and social problems Australia faced, which sparked the historic Australian Labor Party split of 1931. The result was Labor's primary vote dropping to its lowest level since 1901. The two Labor factions, official Labor and Lang Labor, won only 18 seats between them.

See also

Notes

    Further reading

    References

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