Australian federal election, 1955
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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 Herbert Evatt.
| 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) |
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| Country Party | 347,445 | 7.90 | -0.61 | 18 | +1 | (5 elected unopposed) |
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| AC-ALP | 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 uncontested seats existed.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats Won | Seats Held | |
| Australian Labor Party | 1,803,335 | 40.61 | -10.01 | 12 | 28 | |
| Liberal/Country (Joint Ticket) | 1,748,878 | 39.38 | +12.93 | 8 | * | |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 384,732 | 8.66 | -9.32 | 8 | 24 | |
| AC-ALP | 271,067 | 6.10 | * | 1 | 2 | |
| Communist Party of Australia | 161,869 | 3.64 | +0.59 | 0 | 0 | |
| Country Party | 27,850 | 0.63 | +0.63 | 1 | 6 | |
| Other | 43,294 | 0.97 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 4,612,059 | 30 | 60 |
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[edit] History
In 1949, Sir Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party of Australia (descended from the United Australia Party) and was led by Menzies for 16 years through successive re-elections with the traditional coalition in place with the National Party of Australia (since 1922 as the Country Party). Labor stayed out of government for 23 years after the defeat of the Chifley Government in 1949, largely due to the split of the Democratic Labor Party from Labor - also three times the party 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.
[edit] 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.
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