The 1922 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party, led by Prime Minister Billy Hughes lost its majority. However, the opposition Labor Party led by

Matthew Charlton Matthew Charlton (15 March 1866 – 8 December 1948) was an Australian politician who served as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the Opposition from 1922 to 1928. He led the party to defeat at the 1922 and 1925 federal e ...

did not take office as the Nationalists sought a coalition with the fledgling Country Party led by

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leade ...

. The Country Party made Hughes's resignation the price for joining, and Hughes was replaced as Nationalist leader by

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Born ...

. Future Prime Minister

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 future opposition leader John Latham both entered parliament at this election. At this election, Hughes as the sitting prime minister made his second seat transfer, in this case, from Bendigo to North Sydney. Hughes had held Bendigo since transferring there from West Sydney at the 1917 election also as the sitting prime minister. Hughes remains the only sitting Prime Minister to transfer to another seat, not once but twice. Aside from the 1917 and 1922 elections, all other elections have seen the sitting prime minister recontest the seat that they held prior to the election.

Results

House of Representatives

---- ;Notes *Independents:

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( Fremantle, WA) *Five members were elected unopposed – one Labor, two Nationalist, one Country, and one Liberal.

Senate

Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. * *Alexander Hay contested his seat as an independent

Post-election pendulum

Endnotes

Notes Citations

References

University of WA
election results in Australia since 1890
Two-party-preferred vote since 1919
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Federal Election, 1922 Federal elections in Australia 1922 elections in Australia December 1922 events