1955 Australian federal election

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.

1955 Australian federal election

← 1954 10 December 1955 1958 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 124[a] 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%)[b] (1.09 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies H. V. Evatt Party Liberal–Country Coalition Labor Leader since 23 September 1943 13 June 1951 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Barton (NSW) Last election 64 seats 57 seats Seats won 75 47 + NT + ACT Seat change 11 10 Popular vote 2,093,430 1,961,359 Percentage 47.67% 44.65% Swing 0.10 5.42 TPP 54.20% 45.80% TPP swing 4.90 4.90
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

Future Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and future opposition leader Billy Snedden both entered parliament at this election.

Results

House of Representatives

Main article: Results of the 1955 Australian federal election (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%

Party			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
	Party		Member	Margin		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).

See also

• Candidates of the 1955 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1955–1958
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1956–1959

Notes

1. 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.
2. Turnout in contested seats
3. Including Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory