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1955 Australian federal election
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| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| election_name | 1955 Australian federal election | |
| country | Australia | |
| type | parliamentary | |
| ongoing | no | |
| previous_election | 1954 Australian federal election | |
| previous_year | 1954 | |
| next_election | 1958 Australian federal election | |
| next_year | 1958 | |
| outgoing_members | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955 | |
| elected_members | Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1955–1958 | |
| registered | 5,172,443 1.49% | |
| turnout | 4,525,774 (95.00%) | |
| (1.09 pp) | ||
| seats_for_election | All 124 seats of the House of Representatives | |
| 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House | ||
| 30 (of the 60) seats of the Senate | ||
| election_date | 10 December 1955 | |
| <!-- Liberal/Country coalition --> | image1 | File:Robert Menzies headshot (cropped).jpg |
| image_size | 190x190px | |
| leader1 | Robert Menzies | |
| leader_since1 | [23 September 1943](1943-united-australia-party-leadership-election) | |
| party1 | LiberalCountry Coalition | |
| leaders_seat1 | Kooyong (Vic.) | |
| last_election1 | 64 seats | |
| seats1 | **75** | |
| seat_change1 | 11 | |
| popular_vote1 | **2,093,430** | |
| percentage1 | **47.67%** | |
| swing1 | 0.10 | |
| 1data1 | **54.20%** | |
| 2data1 | 4.90 | |
| <!-- Labor --> | image2 | Image:Herbert V. Evatt.jpg |
| leader2 | H. V. Evatt | |
| leader_since2 | [13 June 1951](1951-australian-labor-party-leadership-election) | |
| party2 | Australian Labor Party | |
| leaders_seat2 | Barton (NSW) | |
| last_election2 | 57 seats | |
| seats2 | 47 + NT + ACT | |
| seat_change2 | 10 | |
| popular_vote2 | 1,961,359 | |
| percentage2 | 44.65% | |
| swing2 | 5.42 | |
| 1data2 | 45.80% | |
| 2data2 | 4.90 | |
| 1blank | TPP | |
| 2blank | TPP swing | |
| map_image | 1955 Australian federal election.svg | |
| map_size | 350px | |
| map_caption | Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory. | |
| title | Prime Minister | |
| before_election | Robert Menzies | |
| before_party | Liberal/Country coalition | |
| posttitle | Subsequent Prime Minister | |
| after_election | Robert Menzies | |
| after_party | Liberal/Country coalition | |
| vote_type | Primary |
(1.09 pp) 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 30 (of the 60) seats of the Senate
A federal election was 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. An early election was called to bring the House and Senate elections back in line; the previous election in 1954 had been House-only. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies increased its majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.
Future Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and future opposition leader Billy Snedden both entered parliament at this election.
Results
House of Representatives
Main article: Results of the 1955 Australian federal election (House of Representatives)
| Party | First preference votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | Two-party-preferred (estimated) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal–Country coalition | 2,093,430 | 47.67 | +0.10 | 75 | +11 | ||
| Liberal | *1,745,985* | *39.75* | *+0.75* | *57* | *+10* | ||
| Country | *347,445* | *7.91* | *–0.66* | *18* | *+1* | ||
| Labor | 1,961,359 | 44.65 | –5.42 | 49 | –10 | ||
| Anti-Communist Labor | 227,083 | 5.17 | +5.17 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Communist | 51,001 | 1.16 | –0.09 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Independents | 60,042 | 1.37 | +0.26 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 4,392,915 | **122** | +1 | ||||
| **Liberal–Country coalition** | **Win** | **54.20** | +4.90 | **75** | +11 | ||
| Labor | 45.80 | −4.90 | 49 | −10 |
- Ten members were elected unopposed – five Liberal and five Country. This would be the last federal election where any seat attracted only one candidate.
Senate
| Party | First preference votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal–Country coalition | 2,161,460 | 48.68 | +4.25 | 17 | 30 | ||
| Liberal–Country joint ticket | *1,748,878* | *39.38* | *+12.93* | *8* | *N/A* | ||
| Liberal | *384,732* | *8.66* | *–9.32* | *8* | *24* | ||
| Country | *27,850* | *0.63* | *+0.63* | *1* | *6* | ||
| Labor | 1,803,335 | 40.61 | –10.00 | 12 | 28 | ||
| Anti-Communist Labor | 271,067 | 6.10 | +6.10 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Communist | 161,869 | 3.64 | +0.59 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Henry George Justice | 3,366 | 0.08 | –0.22 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Independents | 39,928 | 0.90 | +0.36 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 4,441,025 | 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).
Notes
References
- University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
- AEC 2PP vote
- Adam Carr's Election Archive - Senate 1955
- 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.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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