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

factoids

1.49%}}Turnout in contested seats}}({{decrease}}1.09 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 Australian House of Representatives 62 seats were needed for a majority in the House 30 (of the 60) seats of the Australian Senate>Senate| election_date = 10 December 1955200x200px)| leader1 = Robert Menzies1943 United Australia Party leadership election>23 September 1943| party1 = Liberal/Country coalitionDivision of Kooyong>Kooyong (Vic.)| last_election1 = 64 seats| seats1 = 75| seat_change1 = {{increase}}11| popular_vote1 = 2,093,430| percentage1 = 47.67%| swing1 = {{increase}}0.10| 1data1 = 54.20%| 2data1 = {{increase}}4.90Image:Herbert V. Evatt.jpg>200x200px| leader2 = H. V. Evatt1951 Australian Labor Party leadership election>13 June 1951| party2 = Australian Labor PartyDivision of Barton>Barton (NSW)| last_election2 = 57 seatsDivision of Northern Territory>NT + ACT| seat_change2 = {{decrease}}10| popular_vote2 = 1,961,359| percentage2 = 44.65%| swing2 = {{decrease}}5.42| 1data2 = 45.80%| 2data2 = {{decrease}}4.90Two-party-preferred>TPP| 2blank = TPP swing| map_image = 1955 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 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.Future Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and future opposition leader Billy Snedden both entered parliament at this election.

Results

House of Representatives

(File:Australian Federal Election, 1955.svg|thumb|{{legend|#F00011|Labor: 47 seats}} {{legend|#00008B|Liberal: 56 seats}} {{legend|#008000|Country: 18 seats}}){| class=“wikitable”Instant-runoff voting>IRV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.00% (CV) — Informal 2.88%(File:1955 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“| Change   Liberal–Country coalition 2,093,430 47.67 +0.10 75 +11Liberal}} |  Liberal Party of Australia>Liberal{{Pad|100px}} 1,745,985 39.75 +0.75 57 +10Country}} |  National Party of Australia>Country{{Pad|100px}} 347,445 7.91 –0.66 18 +1Labor}} |   Labor 1,961,359 44.65 –5.42 49{{efnDivision of Northern Territory>Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory}} –10labor (anti-communist)}} |   Anti-Communist Labor 227,083 5.17 +5.17 0 0Communist}} |   Communist 51,001 1.16 –0.09 0 0Independent}} |   Independents 60,042 1.37 +0.26 0 0|  Total 4,392,915     122 +1! colspan=8 align=center| Two-party-preferred {{Nobold|(estimated)}}Liberal}} |   Liberal–Country coalition Win 54.20 +4.90 75 +11Labor}} |   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.

{{bar box| title=Popular vote| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|44.65}}{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party of Australia}}|39.75}}{{bar percent|Country|{{party color|National Party of Australia}}|7.91}}{{bar percent|ALP AC|#008080|5.17}}{{bar percent|Independent|#777777|1.37}}{{bar percent|Communist|#AA0000|1.16}}}}{{bar box| title=Two-party-preferred vote| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Coalition|{{party color|Coalition (Australia)}}|54.20}}{{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|45.80}}}}{{bar box| title=Parliament seats| titlebar=#ddd| width=600px| barwidth=410px| bars={{bar percent|Coalition|{{party color|Coalition (Australia)}}|61.48}}{{bar percent|Labor|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|38.52}}}}

Senate{| class“wikitable”Single Transferable Vote>STV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.01% (CV) — Informal 9.63%(File:1955 Australian Senate.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 won! style="width:40px“| Seats held! style="width:40px“| Change   Liberal–Country coalition 2,161,460 48.68 +4.25 17 30 –1Coalition}} |  | Liberal–Country joint ticket 1,748,878 39.38 +12.93 8 N/A N/ALiberal}} |  Liberal Party of Australia>Liberal 384,732 8.66 –9.32 8 24 –2Country}} |  National Party of Australia>Country 27,850 0.63 +0.63 1 6 +1Labor}} |   Labor 1,803,335 40.61 –10.00 12 28 –1labor (anti-communist)}} |   Anti-Communist Labor 271,067 6.10 +6.10 1 2 +2Communist}} |   Communist 161,869 3.64 +0.59 0 0 0Henry George Justice}} |   Henry George Justice 3,366 0.08 –0.22 0 0 0Independent}} |   Independents 39,928 0.90 +0.36 0 0 0|   Total 4,441,025     30 60

Seats changing hands

{|class=“wikitable“! rowspan=“2“| Seat! colspan=“4“| Pre-1955! rowspan=“2“| Swing! colspan=“4“| Post-1955! colspan=“2“| Party! Member! Margin! Margin! Member! colspan=“2“| PartyDivision of Ballarat>Ballaarat, VicLabor}}| | Labor| Bob Joshua* 2.6 10.7 7.9| Dudley Erwin| LiberalLiberal}}| Division of Hume>Hume, NSWLabor}}| | Labor| Arthur Fuller 2,2 3.5 2.2Charles Groves Wright Anderson>Charles Anderson| CountryNationals}}| Division of Maribyrnong>Maribyrnong, VicLabor}}| | Labor| Arthur Drakeford 16.1 7.5 0.1| Philip Stokes| LiberalLiberal}}| Division of Perth>Perth, WALabor}}| | LaborTom Burke (Australian politician)>Tom Burke 2.3 3.8 1.5Fred Chaney Sr.>Fred Chaney| LiberalLiberal}}| Division of Phillip>Philip, NSWLabor}}| | LaborJoe Fitzgerald (politician)>Joe Fitzgerald 8.9 5.7 1.1| William Aston| LiberalLiberal}}| Division of St George>St George, NSWLabor}}| | Labor| Nelson Lemmon 2.7 5.8 3.4Bill Graham (Australian politician)>Bill Graham| LiberalLiberal}}| 

• 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

{{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}}