Australian federal election, 1917

Australian federal election, 1917

5 May 1917 (1917-05-05)
All 75 seats in the Australian House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats in the Australian Senate
First party Second party   Leader Billy Hughes Frank Tudor Party Nationalist Labor Leader since 14 November 1916 14 November 1916 Leader's seat Bendigo Yarra Last election 32 seats 42 seats Seats won 53 seats 22 seats Seat change 21 20 Popular vote 1,021,138 827,541 Percentage 54.22% 43.94% Swing 7.01 6.96
Prime Minister before election Billy Hughes Nationalist Resulting Prime Minister Billy Hughes Nationalist

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia (a result of a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and National Labor Party) led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by Frank Tudor.

Hughes, at the time a member of the ALP, had become Prime Minister when Andrew Fisher retired in 1915. The Australian Labor Party split of 1916 over World War I conscription in Australia had led Hughes and 24 other pro-conscription Labor MPs to split off as the National Labor Party, which was able to form a minority government supported by the Commonwealth Liberal Party, led by Joseph Cook. Later that year, National Labor and the Liberals merged to form the Nationalist Party, with Hughes as leader and Cook as deputy leader. The election was fought in the aftermath of the 1916 plebiscite on conscription, which had been narrowly defeated. The Nationalists won a decisive victory, securing the largest majority government since Federation. The ALP suffered a large electoral swing against it, losing almost seven percent of its vote from 1914. The swing was magnified by the large number of former Labor MPs who followed Hughes out of the party.

Results

  Labour: 22 seats

  Nationalist: 52 seats

Seats changing hands

• Members in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

Post-election pendulum

See also

• Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1917
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1917–1919
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1917–1920

Notes

References

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890

Elections and referendums in Australia
Federal elections	1901 1903 1906 1910 1913 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1928 1929 1931 1934 1937 1940 1943 1946 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1958 1961 1963 1964 1966 1967 1969 1970 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 next by-elections
Referendums	1906 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1926 1928 1937 1944 1946 1948 1951 1967 1973 1974 1977 1984 1988 1999 2017
Elections in: Australian Capital Territory New South Wales Northern Territory Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia