Edward St John

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Edward Henry St John (15 August 1916 – 24 October 1994) was an Australian politician. Born in Boggabri, New South Wales, he was educated at state schools and then the University of Sydney. He became a barrister in 1940, and served in the military 1940-45 during World War II. Upon his return he was a law lecturer at the University of Sydney. He was also President of the Australian Section International Commission of Jurists. In 1966, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for the safe seat of Warringah. In 1969 he embarrassed his party by criticising the behaviour of Prime Minister John Gorton, claiming that he had offended the American Embassy by spending a dinner there with the nineteen-year-old daughter of a Labor Senator. Labor Senator Lionel Murphy sent a message to the House suggesting that St John's comments were an inappropriate breach of the Prime Minister's privacy. St John claimed that he was not the only one dissatisfied with Gorton, but no other party members supported him.^[1] St John resigned from the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, but was defeated at the 1969 election by the Liberal candidate. He returned to law as a barrister after his defeat, and died in 1994.^[2]

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Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Francis Bland	Member for Warringah 1966 – 1969	Succeeded by Michael MacKellar

Persondata
NAME	St John, Edward Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	15 August 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH	Boggabri, New South Wales
DATE OF DEATH	24 October 1994
PLACE OF DEATH