1954 Australian federal election

1954 Australian federal election

← 1951 29 May 1954 1955 →
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All 123[b] seats of the House of Representatives 61 seats were needed for a majority
Registered	5,096,468 2.70%
Turnout	4,619,571 (96.09%)[a] (0.09 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies H. V. Evatt Party Liberal (Coalition) Labor Leader since 21 February 1945 13 June 1951 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Barton (NSW) Last election 69 seats 52 seats Seats won 64 57 + NT + ACT Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 2,117,669 2,256,164 Percentage 47.57% 50.07% Swing 2.77 2.44 TPP 49.30% 50.70% TPP swing 1.40 1.40
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

The 1954 Australian federal election were 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.^[1]

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.

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