A federal election was held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, but no Senate election took place. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies defeated the opposition Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt, despite losing the two-party preferred vote. Although the ALP won the two-party preferred vote, six Coalition seats were uncontested compared to one ALP seat. The Psephos blog makes clear that if all seats had been contested, the Coalition would have recorded a higher primary vote than the ALP and possibly also a higher two-party preferred vote.

This was the first federal election that future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam contested as a member of parliament, having entered parliament at the 1952 Werriwa by-election.

Though they did not win government, this election was the last time that the Labor party would achieve more than 50% of the primary vote. The only other time this happened was in 1914.

This was the first federal election to be held under the reign of Elizabeth II as Queen of Australia just two years after she succeeded her father.

Issues The election was complicated by the Petrov Affair, in which Vladimir Petrov, an attache to the Soviet embassy in Canberra, defected amidst a storm of publicity, claiming that there were Soviet spy rings within Australia. Given that the 1951 election had been fought over the issue of banning the Communist Party of Australia altogether, it is unsurprising that such a claim would gain credibility.

Results

+ House of Reps (IRV) — 1954–55—Turnout 96.09% (CV) — Informal 1.35% Party First preference votes % Swing Seats Change   Labor 2,266,979 50.07 +2.44 59 +5   Liberal–Country coalition 2,153,970 47.57 –2.77 64 –5  Liberal 1,765,799 39.00 –1.62 47 –5  Country 388,171 8.57 –1.15 17 0   Communist 56,675 1.25 +0.27 0 0   Independents 50,027 1.11 +0.06 0 0  Total 4,527,651     121 Two-party-preferred   Liberal–Country coalition Win 49.30 −1.40 64 −5   Labor 50.70 +1.40 59 +5

Notes Seven members were elected unopposed – three Liberal, three Country, and one Labor. See 1953 Australian Senate election for Senate composition.

Seats changing hands

Seat Pre-1954 Swing Post-1954 Party Member Margin Margin Member Party Bass, Tas  Liberal Bruce Kekwick 3.4 4.4 1.0 Lance Barnard Labor  Flinders, Vic  Labor Keith Ewert 5.1 4.3 1.6 Robert Lindsay Liberal  Griffith, Qld  Liberal Doug Berry 3.7 4.1 0.4 Wilfred Coutts Labor  St George, NSW  Liberal Bill Graham 1.6 4.3 2.7 Nelson Lemmon Labor  Sturt, SA  Liberal Keith Wilson 2.4 5.4 3.0 Norman Makin Labor  Swan, WA  Liberal Bill Grayden 3.3 4.9 1.6 Harry Webb Labor 

Aftermath The third session of the 20th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. This was the first time a reigning monarch had opened a session of parliament in Australia. The Queen wore her Coronation Dress to open the 20th session of parliament. The success of the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia (the first by a reigning sovereign), the recovery of the economy from a brief recession in 1951-52 and the Petrov Affair were all credited with assisting in the return of the government.

See also Candidates of the Australian federal election, 1954 Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1954–1955

Notes

References

University of WA election results in Australia since 1890 AEC 2PP vote