1955 Australian federal election

1955 Australian federal election
← outgoing members elected members →
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
Registered	5,172,443 1.49%
Turnout	4,525,774 (95.00%); (1.09 pp)
	Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election; Robert Menzies; Liberal/Country coalition	Subsequent Prime Minister ; Robert Menzies; Liberal/Country coalition

The 1955 Australian 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

Labor: 47 seats

Liberal: 56 seats

Country: 18 seats

House of Reps (IRV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.00% (CV) — Informal 2.88%
Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	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^[c]	–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
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	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.

Popular vote

Labor			44.65%
Liberal			39.75%
Country			7.91%
ALP AC			5.17%
Independent			1.37%
Communist			1.16%

Two-party-preferred vote

Coalition			54.20%
Labor			45.80%

Parliament seats

Coalition			61.48%
Labor			38.52%

Senate

Senate (STV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.01% (CV) — Informal 9.63%
		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
Liberal–Country coalition		2,161,460	48.68	+4.25	17	30	–1
	Liberal–Country joint ticket	1,748,878	39.38	+12.93	8	N/A	N/A
	Liberal	384,732	8.66	–9.32	8	24	–2
	Country	27,850	0.63	+0.63	1	6	+1
Labor		1,803,335	40.61	–10.00	12	28	–1
Anti-Communist Labor		271,067	6.10	+6.10	1	2	+2
Communist		161,869	3.64	+0.59	0	0	0
Henry George Justice		3,366	0.08	–0.22	0	0	0
Independents		39,928	0.90	+0.36	0	0	0
Total		4,441,025			30	60

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1955				Swing	Post-1955
Seat	Party		Member	Margin	Swing	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

^ Turnout in contested seats
^ The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory each had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation.
^ Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

References

University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine 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.

[1] Turnout in contested seats

[2] The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory each had one seat, but members for the territories did not have full voting rights until 1966 and did not count toward government formation.

[3] Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory

[b]

[a]

[c]