1937 Australian federal election

1937 Australian federal election

←  1934 23 October 1937 1940  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
All 75 [a] seats of the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats of the Senate
Registered	4,080,038 4.54%
Turnout	3,699,269 (96.13%) [b] (0.96 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Joseph Lyons John Curtin Party UAP/Country coalition Labor Leader since 7 May 1931 1 October 1935 Leader's seat Wilmot (Tas.) Fremantle (WA) Last election 42 seats 18 seats Seats won 43 29 Seat change 1 11 Percentage 49.26% 43.17% Swing 1.01 16.36 TPP 50.60% 49.40% TPP swing 2.90 2.90
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Joseph Lyons UAP/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Joseph Lyons UAP/Country coalition

Poster promoting the return of the Lyons Government at the 1937 federal election; Lyons became the first Australian prime minister to win three elections.

The 1937 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 23 October 1937. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent UAP–Country coalition government, led by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin.

The election is notable in that the Country Party achieved its highest-ever primary vote in the lower house, thereby winning nearly a quarter of all lower-house seats. At the 1934 election nine seats in New South Wales had been won by Lang Labor. Following the reunion of the two Labor parties in February 1936, these were held by their members as ALP seats at the 1937 election. With the party's wins in Ballaarat and Gwydir (initially at a by-election on 8 March 1937), the ALP had a net gain of 11 seats compared with the previous election.

This was the first federal election that future Prime Ministers Harold Holt and Arthur Fadden contested as members of parliament, having entered parliament at the 1935 Fawkner by-election and 1936 Darling Downs by-election respectively.

This was the first federal election under George VI who became head of state after his brother Edward VIII who abdicated in December the previous year.

Results

House of Representatives

See also: Results of the Australian federal election, 1937 (House of Representatives)

  Labor: 29 seats

  United Australia: 28 seats

  Country: 15 seats

  Independent: 2 seats

House of Reps (IRV) — 1937–40—Turnout 96.13% (CV) — Informal 2.59%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	UAP–Country coalition		1.774,805	49.26	–1.01	43	–4
		United Australia	1,214,526	33.71	+0.73	28	0
		Country	560,279	15.55	+2.93	15	+1
	Labor		1,555,737	43.17	+16.36	29	+11
	Social Credit		79,432	2.20	−2.49	0	0
	Communist		17,153	0.48	+0.48	0	0
	Independents		176,214	4.89	+2.38	3 [c]	+2
	Total		3,603,223			75
Two-party-preferred (estimated)
	UAP–Country coalition		Win	50.60	−2.90	43	+1
	Labor			49.40	+2.90	29	+11

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Notes

• Four members were elected unopposed, all from the Labor Party.
• Independents: Alexander Wilson (Wimmera, Vic) and Percy Spender (Warringah, NSW).
• The member for Northern Territory, Adair Blain (independent), had voting rights only for issues relating to the Territory, and so is not included in the table.

Popular vote Labor   43.17% United Australia   33.17% Country   15.55% Independent   5.56% Social Credit   2.20% Communist   0.48%

Two-party-preferred vote Coalition   50.60% Labor   49.40%

Parliament seats Coalition   58.11% Labor   38.19% Independent   2.70%

Senate

Senate (P BV) — 1937–40—Turnout 94.75% (CV) — Informal 9.56%

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Labor		1,699,172	48.48	+20.40	16	16	+13
	UAP–Country coalition		1,636,889	46.71	–6.51	3	20	–13
		UAP–Country joint ticket	1,005,247	28.68	+10.44	0	N/A	N/A
		United Australia	565,161	16.13	−4.54	3	16	−10
		Country	66,481	1.90	−12.41	0	4	−3
	Social Credit		49,801	1.42	−1.36	0	0	0
	Independent		118,768	3.39	+2.93	0	0	0
	Total		3,504,630			19	36

Seats changing hands

Seat	Pre-1937				Swing	Post-1937
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Ballaarat, Vic		United Australia	Archibald Fisken	3.9	3.5	0.6	Reg Pollard	Labor
Bendigo, Vic		United Australia	Eric Harrison	N/A	0.3	6.9	George Rankin	Country
Grey, SA		United Australia	Philip McBride	N/A	2.9	7.1	Oliver Badman	Country
Warringah, NSW		United Australia	Archdale Parkhill	N/A	29.4	1.9	Percy Spender	Independent UAP
Wimmera, Vic		Country	Hugh McClelland	N/A	2.9	1.9	Alexander Wilson	Independent

• Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.

See also

• Candidates of the 1937 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1937–1940
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1938–1941

Notes

1. The Northern Territory 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

External links

• University of WA Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine election results in Australia since 1890
• Two-party-preferred vote since 1937