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{{Short description|Election in Australia}}{{Use Australian English|date=April 2024}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}

factoids

2.70%}}Turnout in contested seats}}({{increase}}0.09 pp)The Division of Northern Territory and Division of Australian Capital Territory>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.}} seats of the House of Representatives61 seats were needed for a majority| election_date = 29 May 1954200x200px)| leader1 = Robert MenziesLeader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Leaders of the Liberal Party>21 February 1945Liberal Party of Australia>Liberal (Coalition)Division of Kooyong>Kooyong (Vic.)| last_election1 = 69 seats| seats1 = 64| seat_change1 = {{decrease}}5| popular_vote1 = 2,117,669| percentage1 = 47.57%| swing1 = {{decrease}}2.77| 1data1 = 49.30%| 2data1 = {{decrease}}1.40200x200px)| leader2 = H. V. Evatt1951 Australian Labor Party leadership election>13 June 1951| party2 = Australian Labor PartyDivision of Barton>Barton (NSW)| last_election2 = 52 seatsDivision of Northern Territory>NT + ACT| seat_change2 = {{increase}}5| popular_vote2 = 2,256,164| percentage2 = 50.07%| swing2 = {{increase}}2.44| 1data2 = 50.70%| 2data2 = {{increase}}1.40Two-party-preferred>TPP| 2blank = TPP swing| map_image = 1954 Australian federal election.svg| map_size = 350px| map_caption = Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party’s margin of victory.Prime Minister of Australia>Prime Minister| before_election = Robert Menzies| before_party = Liberal/Country coalition| posttitle = Subsequent Prime Minister| after_election = Robert Menzies| after_party = 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.WEB,psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1954/1954reps1.txt, Legislative election of 29 May 1954: House of Representatives, Carr, Adam, Psephos, 10 December 2020, 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Results

{{see also|Results of the Australian federal election, 1954 (House of Representatives)}}(File:Australian Federal Election, 1954.svg|thumb|{{legend|#F00011|Labor: 57 seats}} {{legend|#00008B|Liberal: 47 seats}} {{legend|#008000|Country: 17 seats}}){| class=“wikitable”Instant-runoff voting>IRV) — 1954–55—Turnout 96.09% (CV) — Informal 1.35%(File:1954 Australian House.svg|alt=|center|300x300px)! colspan=3 style="width:180px” | Party! style="width:70px“| Votes! style="width:40px“| %! style="width:40px“| Swing! style="width:40px“| Seats! style="width:40px“| ChangeLabor}} |   Labor 2,266,979 50.07 +2.44 59{{efnDivision of Northern Territory>Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory}} +5   Liberal–Country coalition 2,153,970 47.57 –2.77 64 –5Liberal}} |  Liberal Party of Australia>Liberal{{Pad|100px}} 1,765,799 39.00 –1.62 47 –5Country}} |  National Party of Australia>Country{{Pad|100px}} 388,171 8.57 –1.15 17 0Communist}} |   Communist 56,675 1.25 +0.27 0 0Independent}} |   Independents 50,027 1.11 +0.06 0 0|  Total 4,527,651     121! colspan=8 align=center| Two-party-preferred {{Nobold|(estimated)}}Liberal}} |   Liberal–Country coalition Win 49.30 −1.40 64 −5Labor}} |   Labor 50.70 +1.40 59 +5

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;Notes

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

{{bar box| title=Popular vote| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|50.07}}{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party of Australia}}|39.00}}{{bar percent|Country|{{party color|National Party of Australia}}|8.52}}{{bar percent|Communist|#AA0000|1.25}}{{bar percent|Independent|#777777|1.10}}}}{{bar box| title=Two-party-preferred vote| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|50.70}}{{bar percent|Coalition|{{party color|Coalition (Australia)}}|49.30}}}}{{bar box| title=Parliament seats| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Coalition|{{party color|Coalition (Australia)}}|52.89}}{{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|47.11}}}}

Seats changing hands

{|class=“wikitable“! rowspan=“2“| Seat! colspan=“4“| Pre-1954! rowspan=“2“| Swing! colspan=“4“| Post-1954! colspan=“2“| Party! Member! Margin! Margin! Member! colspan=“2“| PartyDivision of Bass>Bass, TasLiberal}}| | Liberal| Bruce Kekwick 3.4 4.4 1.0| Lance Barnard| LaborLabor}}| Division of Flinders>Flinders, VicLabor}}| | Labor| Keith Ewert 5.1 4.3 1.6Robert Lindsay (Australian politician)>Robert Lindsay| LiberalLiberal}}| Division of Griffith>Griffith, QldLiberal}}| | LiberalDoug Berry (politician)>Doug Berry 3.7 4.1 0.4| Wilfred Coutts| LaborLabor}}| Division of St George>St George, NSWLiberal}}| | LiberalBill Graham (Australian politician)>Bill Graham 1.6 4.3 2.7| Nelson Lemmon| LaborLabor}}| Division of Sturt>Sturt, SALiberal}}| | LiberalKeith Wilson (South Australian politician)>Keith Wilson 2.4 5.4 3.0| Norman Makin| LaborLabor}}| Division of Swan>Swan, WALiberal}}| | Liberal| Bill Grayden 3.3 4.9 1.6Harry Webb (politician)>Harry Webb| LaborLabor}}| 

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

{{notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

• University of WA {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118085343elections.uwa.edu.au/ |date=18 January 2015 }} election results in Australia since 1890
• AEC 2PP vote
• Prior to 1984 the AEC did not undertake a full distribution of preferences for statistical purposes. The stored ballot papers for the 1983 election were put through this process prior to their destruction. Therefore, the figures from 1983 onwards show the actual result based on full distribution of preferences.

{{Australian elections}}