Hubbry Logo
search
logo
1571796

1922 Australian federal election

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
1922 Australian federal election

The 1922 Australian federal election was held on 16 December 1922 to elect members to the Parliament of Australia. All 76 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party government failed to win a majority and instead formed a coalition with the Country Party, with S. M. Bruce replacing Billy Hughes as Nationalist leader and prime minister.

The election was held following a period of parliamentary instability, with the Nationalists governing in minority. The main issue of the campaign was Hughes' leadership, which had become increasingly divisive and led to anti-Hughes factions running against endorsed Nationalists. The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Matthew Charlton, emerged as the largest single party in the House but with no reasonable prospect of forming government. Page and the Country Party strengthened their parliamentary position and won a clear balance of power, which they used to force Hughes' resignation. A new government was not formed until February 1923, with Bruce as prime minister and Page as deputy prime minister.

At this election, Hughes as the sitting prime minister made his second seat transfer, in this case, from Bendigo to North Sydney. Hughes had held Bendigo since transferring there from West Sydney at the 1917 election also as the sitting prime minister.

Hughes remains the only sitting prime minister to transfer to another seat, not once but twice.

Aside from the 1917 and 1922 elections, all other elections have seen the sitting prime minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election.

The 1919 federal election had resulted in a hung parliament, with the newly formed Country Party holding the balance of power. Prime Minister Billy Hughes' Nationalist Party government was reliant on the support of the Country Party to pass legislation. Country Party leader Earle Page used the situation to his advantage, bargaining for concessions and refusing to guarantee support for confidence motions.

A vote of confidence held in October 1921 on the government's budget passed by only a single vote, when Country MP Alexander Hay abstained from voting. The following month, Hughes made an explicit offer of cabinet portfolios to Page, but on 30 November the Country Party "resolved to have no compromise with Hughes, but to concentrate on getting enough members at the next election to control parliament and insist on his removal".

ALP leader Frank Tudor died in office in January 1922, after a long period of ill health. He was replaced as party leader and opposition leader by New South Wales MP Matthew Charlton, who had been acting leader for some time, although he was not formally confirmed in the position until May 1922.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.