spill A spill occurs when the contents of something, usually in liquid form, are emptied out onto a surface, person or clothes, often unintentionally. Spill may also refer to: *Oil spill *Chemical spill *Data spill *Leadership spill *Spill (audio), whe ...

of the leadership of the

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 A ...

took place on 18 July 1987, following

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 loss in the 1987 federal election by previous leader

Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the pa ...

. The spill was won by Howard against Peacock by 41 votes to 28. Peacock was then elected deputy leader with 36 votes over

Fred Chaney Frederick Michael Chaney, AO (born 28 October 1941) is a former Australian politician who was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1989 to 1990 and served as a minister in the Fraser Government. He was a Senator for Western Australia from ...

with 24,

Michael MacKellar Michael John Randal MacKellar (27 October 1938 – 9 May 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1969 to 1994, representing the Division of Warringah. He was M ...

with 6 and John Moore with 3.

Background

Candidates

, incumbent Leader, Member for

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong ser ...

, former Leader, Member for Kooyong

Results

The following tables gives the ballot results:

Leadership ballot

Deputy leadership ballot

Other candidates in order of elimination: *

John Spender John Michael Spender (2 December 1935 – 13 October 2022) was an Australian politician, diplomat and barrister. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1980 to 1990, representing the Liberal P ...

David Connolly David James Connolly (born 6 June 1977) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for various clubs including Feyenoord and Excelsior in the Netherlands as well as Wigan Athletic and Sunderland in the Premier Leag ...

Peter Shack Peter Donald Shack (born 20 June 1953) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1983 and from 1984 to 1993. He was a member of the Liberal Party and represented the Division of Tangney ...

* Ian Wilson * Neil Brown * Harry Edwards *

Wilson Tuckey Charles Wilson Tuckey (born 10 July 1935) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party. He was a minister in ...

Aftermath

References

{{Leadership spills in Australia Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill