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 t ...

held a

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

on 1 October 1935, following the resignation of

James Scullin James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 Australian federal election. He was the first Cathol ...

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

was elected as his replacement, defeating

Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde (18 July 189028 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946. He served as pri ...

and

Norman Makin Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Nor ...

, and consequently became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. Scullin had suffered persistent ill health for several years, and announced his intention to resign the leadership on 28 August 1935. A caucus meeting was held on 23 September, although Scullin was absent due to a bout of influenza; the meeting passed a motion asking him to continue as leader, which he subsequently declined. A second meeting was held on 1 October, at which Scullin formally resigned and called for a leadership ballot. All 21 members of the Labor caucus voted, although three were overseas and voted by telegram; the nine

Lang Labor Lang Labor was a faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) consisting of the supporters of Jack Lang, who served two terms as Premier of New South Wales and was the party's state leader from 1923 to 1939. Following the expulsion of the N ...

members were ineligible to vote, as they had not yet reconciled with the main party. There were three candidates – deputy leader Frank Forde, John Curtin, and Norman Makin. On the first ballot, Makin (who was overseas) received only two votes, and was eliminated. It was reported that both Makin voters transferred their support to Curtin on the second ballot, who was elected by a single vote over Forde. Curtin's victory was unexpected, as Forde was seen as the natural successor and had prior ministerial experience. Forde's association with the Scullin Government and support of the

Premiers' Plan The Premiers' Plan was a deflationary economic policy agreed by a meeting of the Premiers of the Australian states in June 1931 to combat the Great Depression in Australia that sparked the 1931 Labor split. Background The Great Depression ...

were believed to have played against him. Curtin was the first leader of a major political party to represent a constituency in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

.McMullin, Ross (1991). ''The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991'', Oxford University Press, pp. 185–186.

Results

The following table gives the ballot results:

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Australian Labor Party leadership spills October 1935 events 1935 elections in Australia Australian Labor Party leadership election