The 1995 Wentworth by-election was held in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n electorate of

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 8 April 1995. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, former

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

leader Dr

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson was ...

on 28 February 1995. The writ for the by-election was issued on 3 March 1995.

Background

John Hewson was elected as the member for Wentworth in 1987, in 1988 Opposition leader John Howard appointed him Shadow Finance Minister, in May 1989 Hewson became Shadow Treasurer after Andrew Peacock replaced Howard, after Peacock lost in the 1990 election, Hewson became the Leader of the Opposition defeating Peter Reit

the Coalition (Australia), Coalition lost the 1993 federal election. Hewson had pledged to resign if the Coalition lost the 1993 election, but did not do so, and despite retaining the leadership over John Howard and Bruce Reid his leadership was undermined over the next year by

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

and

Bronwyn Bishop Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (née Setright; born 19 October 1942) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of federal parliament for almost 30 years, the longest period of service by a woman. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a mi ...

. Eventually, Hewson called a leadership ballot in May 1994 which was won by Downer with Costello as his deputy. For several months, Hewson was part of the Downer shadow ministry until he was sacked by Downer in August 1994. Downer's leadership lasted until January 1995, when he resigned and

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

won the leadership, prior to his resignation Downer asked for Hewsons support against a Howard leadership challenge but Hewson declared he wanted the Shadow Treasurer portfolio held by

the deputy leader of the Opposition. In February 1995, Hewson resigned from Parliament after prior speculation he was to be subject to pre selection challenge.

Results

Aftermath

The

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

did not run a candidate in the by-election, and the two-candidate preferred votes went to the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

candidate who polled 34.1 per cent. The former Liberal minister

Bill Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (8 September 1907 – 15 June 2003), usually known as Bill Wentworth and sometimes referred to by others as William Charles Wentworth IV, was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party for most of ...

(great grandson of the seat's namesake,

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of early colonial New South Wales. Throug ...

) stood as an independent, and gained a primary vote of 18.9 per cent. The Liberal Party retained the seat, however, with Andrew Thomson elected to parliament.

References

External links

Wentworth (NSW) By-Election (8 April 1995)

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wentworth By-Election, 1995 1995 elections in Australia New South Wales federal by-elections April 1995 events in Australia

Background

Results

Aftermath

See also

References

External links