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 the conscription issue 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 under 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 percentage points of its vote share compared with 1914. The swing was magnified by the large number of former Labor MPs who followed Hughes out of the party. This election would be the last federal election using the first past the post election system as Australia switched to the preferential voting system in 1919.
This is the first of two elections (the other in 1922 also with Hughes as the incumbent Prime Minister), in which the incumbent Prime Minister, Hughes, had successfully transferred to another seat.
At this election, Hughes had abandoned West Sydney, which he won with 75.3% of the vote as the Labor candidate at the previous election in 1914, and moved to Bendigo instead, winning it as the Nationalist candidate: unlike 1922, Hughes made his seat transfer in 1917 by defeating that seat’s incumbent member, Alfred Hampson, for re-election, the only time that an incumbent Prime Minister has defeated another MP for his seat.
Except for the 1917 and 1922 elections, all other elections have seen the incumbent Prime Minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election.
University of WA election results in Australia since 1890
April 26, 2024
1917, australian, federal, election, held, australia, 1917, seats, house, representatives, seats, senate, were, election, incumbent, nationalist, party, prime, minister, billy, hughes, defeated, opposition, labor, party, frank, tudor, landslide, 1914, 1917, 19. The 1917 Australian federal election was 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 led by Prime Minister Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Labor Party led by Frank Tudor in a landslide 1917 Australian federal election 1914 5 May 1917 1917 05 05 1919 outgoing memberselected members All 75 seats in the House of Representatives38 seats were needed for a majority in the House18 of the 36 seats in the SenateRegistered2 835 327 0 85 Turnout1 934 478 78 30 a 4 77 pp First party Second party Leader Billy Hughes Frank Tudor Party Nationalist Labor Leader since 17 February 1917 14 November 1916 Leader s seat West Sydney NSW won Bendigo Vic Yarra Vic 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 95 Results by division for the House of Representatives shaded by winning party s margin of victory Prime Minister before election Billy Hughes Nationalist Subsequent Prime Minister Billy Hughes Nationalist 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 the conscription issue 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 under 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 percentage points of its vote share compared with 1914 The swing was magnified by the large number of former Labor MPs who followed Hughes out of the party This election would be the last federal election using the first past the post election system as Australia switched to the preferential voting system in 1919 This is the first of two elections the other in 1922 also with Hughes as the incumbent Prime Minister in which the incumbent Prime Minister Hughes had successfully transferred to another seat At this election Hughes had abandoned West Sydney which he won with 75 3 of the vote as the Labor candidate at the previous election in 1914 and moved to Bendigo instead winning it as the Nationalist candidate unlike 1922 Hughes made his seat transfer in 1917 by defeating that seat s incumbent member Alfred Hampson for re election the only time that an incumbent Prime Minister has defeated another MP for his seat Except for the 1917 and 1922 elections all other elections have seen the incumbent Prime Minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election Contents 1 Results 1 1 House of Representatives 1 2 Senate 2 Seats changing hands 3 Post election pendulum 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksResults editHouse of Representatives edit See also Results of the 1917 Australian federal election House of Representatives House of Reps 1917 1919 FPTP Turnout 78 30 Non CV Informal 2 64 nbsp Party Votes Swing Seats Change Nationalist 1 021 138 54 22 7 01 53 21 Labor 827 541 43 94 6 96 22 20 Independents 34 755 1 85 0 05 0 1 Total 1 883 434 75 Nationalist Win 53 21 Labor 22 20 Notes Ten members were elected unopposed seven Nationalist and three Labor The changes recorded for the Nationalist Party are with regard to the Commonwealth Liberal Party s performance in 1914 Popular vote Nationalist 54 22 Labor 43 94 Independent 1 85 Parliament seats Nationalist 70 67 Labor 29 33 Senate edit Senate 1917 1919 FPTP BV Turnout 77 69 Non CV Informal N A nbsp Party Votes Swing Seats won Seats held Change Nationalist 3 516 354 55 37 7 60 18 24 18 Labor 2 776 648 43 72 8 42 0 12 18 Socialist Labor 32 692 0 51 0 51 0 0 0 Independents 24 676 0 39 0 39 0 0 0 Total 6 350 370 18 36 Notes The changes recorded for the Nationalist Party are with regard to the Commonwealth Liberal Party s performance in 1914 Seats changing hands editSeat Pre 1917 Swing Post 1917 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Bass Tas Labor Jens Jensen 6 0 15 9 9 9 Jens Jensen Nationalist Bendigo Vic Labor Alfred Hampson 0 9 12 5 7 4 Billy Hughes Nationalist Boothby SA Labor George Dankel 5 3 19 8 14 5 William Story Nationalist Corio Vic Labor Alfred Ozanne 1 2 8 5 7 3 John Lister Nationalist Darwin Tas Labor King O Malley 6 1 14 9 8 8 Charles Howroyd Nationalist Denison Tas Labor William Laird Smith 5 9 12 2 6 3 William Laird Smith Nationalist Fawkner Vic Labor Joseph Hannan 9 3 10 7 N A George Maxwell Nationalist Fremantle WA Labor Reginald Burchell 6 3 25 2 18 9 Reginald Burchell Nationalist Gippsland Vic Independent George Wise 1 0 24 7 22 7 George Wise Nationalist Grey SA Labor Alexander Poynton 4 0 11 7 7 7 Alexander Poynton Nationalist Gwydir NSW Labor William Webster 3 8 10 3 6 5 William Webster Nationalist Herbert Qld Labor Fred Bamford 14 4 15 7 1 3 Fred Bamford Nationalist Hindmarsh SA Labor William Archibald 24 4 30 2 5 8 William Archibald Nationalist Illawarra NSW Labor George Burns 4 2 8 5 4 3 Hector Lamond Nationalist Indi Vic Labor Parker Moloney 1 0 7 2 6 2 John Leckie Nationalist Kalgoorlie WA Labor Hugh Mahon 100 0 51 3 1 3 Edward Heitmann Nationalist Oxley Qld Labor James Sharpe 6 8 9 6 2 3 James Bayley Nationalist Werriwa NSW Labor John Lynch 0 0 2 8 2 8 John Lynch Nationalist Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election Post election pendulum editGovernment seats Nationalist Party Marginal Moreton Qld Hugh Sinclair NAT 00 1 Angas SA Paddy Glynn NAT 00 8 Kalgoorlie WA Edward Heitmann NAT 01 3 Herbert Qld Fred Bamford NAT 01 3 Fawkner Vic George Maxwell NAT 01 4 Calare NSW Henry Pigott NAT 01 8 Hume NSW Franc Falkiner NAT 01 9 Werriwa NSW John Lynch NAT 02 8 Oxley Qld James Bayley NAT 02 8 Wide Bay Qld Edward Corser NAT 02 9 Illawarra NSW Hector Lamond NAT 04 3 Wannon Vic Arthur Rodgers NAT 04 8 Hindmarsh SA William Archibald NAT 05 8 Fairly safe Darling Downs Qld Littleton Groom NAT 06 1 Robertson NSW William Fleming NAT 06 2 Wakefield SA Richard Foster NAT 06 2 Indi Vic John Leckie NAT 06 2 Denison Tas William Laird Smith NAT 06 3 Gwydir NSW William Webster NAT 06 5 Grampians Vic Carty Salmon NAT 07 0 Eden Monaro NSW Austin Chapman NAT 07 2 Corio Vic John Lister NAT 07 3 Bendigo Vic Billy Hughes NAT 07 4 Grey SA Alexander Poynton NAT 07 7 Darwin Tas Charles Howroyd NAT 08 8 Riverina NSW John Chanter NAT 09 2 vs IND Bass Tas Alexander Poynton NAT 09 9 Safe Corangamite Vic Chester Manifold NAT 10 4 Lang NSW Elliot Johnson NAT 10 4 Nepean NSW Richard Orchard NAT 10 5 Echuca Vic Albert Palmer NAT 10 7 Flinders Vic William Irvine NAT 11 2 Lilley Qld George Mackay NAT 12 7 Barker SA John Livingston NAT 13 9 Wilmot Tas Llewellyn Atkinson NAT 14 2 Boothby SA William Story NAT 14 5 Parkes NSW Bruce Smith NAT 15 4 Balaclava Vic William Watt NAT 16 6 Wentworth NSW Willie Kelly NAT 18 5 Fremantle WA Reginald Burchell NAT 18 9 Perth WA James Fowler NAT 19 5 Very safe Henty Vic James Boyd NAT 20 6 Dampier WA Henry Gregory NAT 21 4 Gippsland Vic George Wise NAT 22 7 Parramatta NSW Joseph Cook NAT 23 8 vs IND Richmond NSW Walter Massy Greene NAT 25 2 Cowper NSW John Thomson NAT unopposed Franklin Tas William McWilliams NAT unopposed Kooyong Vic Robert Best NAT unopposed New England NSW Percy Abbott NAT unopposed North Sydney NSW Granville Ryrie NAT unopposed Swan WA John Forrest NAT unopposed Wimmera Vic Sydney Sampson NAT unopposed Non government seats Australian Labor Party Marginal Macquarie NSW Samuel Nicholls ALP 00 0 Brisbane Qld William Finlayson ALP 00 0 Maribyrnong Vic James Fenton ALP 02 2 Capricornia Qld William Higgs ALP 02 3 Barrier NSW Michael Considine ALP 02 5 vs IND Darling NSW Arthur Blakeley ALP 03 3 Hunter NSW Matthew Charlton ALP 03 4 Dalley NSW William Mahony ALP 04 0 Bourke Vic Frank Anstey ALP 04 5 Maranoa Qld Jim Page ALP 04 8 Fairly safe Newcastle NSW David Watkins ALP 08 0 Safe Melbourne Vic William Maloney ALP 10 3 Batman Vic Frank Brennan ALP 10 9 Kennedy Qld Charles McDonald ALP 12 8 South Sydney NSW Edward Riley ALP 13 3 Cook NSW James Catts ALP 14 4 Melbourne Ports Vic James Mathews ALP 16 3 West Sydney NSW Con Wallace ALP 16 5 Very safe Yarra Vic Frank Tudor ALP 21 3 Adelaide SA George Edwin Yates ALP unopposed Ballaarat Vic Charles McGrath ALP unopposed East Sydney NSW John West ALP unopposedSee also editCandidates of the 1917 Australian federal election Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1917 1919 Members of the Australian Senate 1917 1920Notes edit Turnout in contested seatsReferences editExternal links editUniversity of WA election results in Australia since 1890 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1917 Australian federal election amp oldid 1217775817, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
