1951 Balaclava by-election

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Balaclava on 28 July 1951. This was triggered by the resignation of Liberal MP Thomas White, the Air and Civil Aviation Minister, to become Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. A by-election for the seat of Macquarie was held on the same day.

1951 Balaclava by-election

28 July 1951

First party Second party   Candidate Percy Joske Arthur Lewis Party Liberal Labor Popular vote 20,337 13,279 Percentage 57.0% 37.2% Swing 6.3pp 0.5pp TPP 59.9% 40.1% TPP Swing 3.4pp 3.4pp

MP before election Thomas White Liberal Elected MP Percy Joske Liberal

The by-election was won by Liberal candidate Percy Joske.

Results

Balaclava by-election, 1951^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Joske	20,337	57.0	−6.3
	Labor	Arthur Lewis	13,279	37.2	+0.5
	Independent	Grace Stratton	2,035	5.7	+5.7
Total formal votes			35,651	99.2
Informal votes			274	0.8
Turnout			35,925	83.9
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Percy Joske		59.9	−3.4
	Labor	Arthur Lewis		40.1	+3.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.4