Michael John Darby (born 1945) is an Australian politician. Originally a member of the Liberal Party, he went on to be significant in the Christian Democratic Party. He has been called a "right-wing maverick" because of his strong convictions (pro-free market, socially conservative), and named as a member of the NSW 'uglies' faction[1] in the 1980s. He was expelled from the Liberal Party in 2008.
Darby is the son of long-serving state Liberal MP Douglas Darby. A former army officer and interpreter, he became active in politics in the 1970s.[2] His first run for office was as the Liberal candidate for the safe Labor seat of Werriwa in the 1974 federal election, running against then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. He later contested the 1988 Oxley by-election as an independent, and also ran as an independent in Dickson in 1993. He subsequently returned to the Liberal Party and ran in the fifth position on the Coalition Senate ticket for New South Wales in 2004. Following his expulsion from the Liberal Party he became campaign director for the Christian Democratic Party, but was relieved of this position following a controversial survey circulated during the campaign for the 2009 Bradfield by-election, when the Christian Democrats ran nine candidates.[3]