ID 0276

Commonwealth Parliament, House of Representatives election

Election of 10 December 1955

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General election for the House of Representatives
Commonwealth of Australia
Date of election
10 December 1955

Government in office and parliamentary support before and after the election

Government in office at election

Prime Minister in office at date of election. (check notes to see if change of Prime Minister since previous election)
Robert Gordon Menzies
Prime Minister's party affiliation
Liberal Party
House of Representatives support for government at election
Coalition
If coalition, coalition partner(s)
Country Party

Government in office after election

Prime Minister in office after election.
Robert Gordon Menzies
Prime Minister's party affiliation
Liberal Party
House of Representatives support for government after election
Majority
If coalition, coalition partner(s)
Country Party

Enrolment and voting

Total number of voters on the roll
5,172,443
Number of House of Representatives seats
122
Number of uncontested seats
10
If uncontested seats, number of voters on the roll in uncontested seats
408,650
Number of voters on the roll in contested seats
4,763,793
Total ballots cast (may differ from number of votes in multiple voting systems)
4,525,774
Turnout (rate of voting in contested seats)
95%
Total valid votes
4,395,535
Rate of informal (invalid) voting
2.88%
Informal (invalid) ballots in multiple voting system
Not applicable
Electoral system
Adult franchise at 21 years; single member districts; preferential voting (AV); compulsory preferences; compulsory voting

House of Representatives votes and seats won, national summary

Display Chart

Election held on 10 December 1955
Criteria for the inclusion of parties in this table are set out in the Glossary under listed party

* to view table drag left or right.
Party Name First preference vote nFirst preference vote share %Change from previous election %Seats won nUncontested seats held nSeat share %
Australian Labor Party 1,961,829  44.63  -5.4 47  0  38.52 
Liberal Party 1,746,485  39.73  +1.42 57  5  46.72 
Country Party  347,445  7.9  -.62 18  5  14.75 
Anti-Communist Labor Party (Democratic Labor Party from 1958) 227,083  5.17  * 0  0  0 
Votes for other than listed parties112,6932.56 0.00    
Totals4,395,535  100    122  10  100 

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* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.

Sources

Colin A Hughes and B D Graham, A Handbook of Australian Government and Politics 1890-1964, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1968 (SBN 708102700); Gerard Newman, Federal Election Results 1949-2001, Canberra: Commonwealth Parliament, Department of the Parliamentary Library, Information and Research Services, Research Paper 9 2001-02, 2002 (ISSN 1328 7478).

Although the book deals with political competition in a single electoral region, information on the 1955 general election for the House of Representatives and its context can be found in D W Rawson and Susan M Holtzinger, Politics in Eden-Monaro: The Personalities and the Campaigns, London: Heinemann, 1958.

Note - 104172


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