1914 Australian federal election

1914 Australian federal election

← 1913 5 September 1914 (1914-09-05) 1917 →
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House All 36 seats in the Senate 19 seats were needed for a majority in the Senate
First party Second party   Leader Andrew Fisher Joseph Cook Party Labor Commonwealth Liberal Leader since 30 October 1907 20 January 1913 Leader's seat Wide Bay (Qld) Parramatta (NSW) Last election 37 seats 38 seats Seats won 42 seats 32 seats Seat change 5 6 Popular vote 858,451 796,397 Percentage 50.89% 47.21% Swing 2.42% 1.73%
Popular vote by state with graphs indicating the number of seats won. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote by state but instead via results in each electorate.
Prime Minister before election Joseph Cook Commonwealth Liberal Subsequent Prime Minister Andrew Fisher Labor

The 1914 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 5 September 1914. The election had been called before the declaration of war in August 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election, as a result of the first double dissolution being granted. The incumbent Commonwealth Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Cook, was defeated by the opposition Labor Party under Andrew Fisher. Fisher returned for a third term as prime minister.

Until the defeat of the Howard Government in 2007, the Cook Government was the only non-Labor Government in Australian history that did not last longer than the Labor government it had replaced.

Due to Fisher having served as Prime Minister prior to this and the 1910 elections, he is the only Labor Opposition Leader, who had previous ministerial experience, to have won at least one election.

Results[]

House of Representatives[]

  Labour: 42 seats

  Commonwealth Liberal: 32 seats

  Independent: 1 seat

House of Reps 1914–17 (FPTP) — Turnout 73.53% (Non-CV) — Informal 2.32%

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change	Notes
	Labor	858,451	50.89	+2.42	42	+5
	Commonwealth Liberal	796,397	47.21	−1.73	32	-6
	Independents	31,915	1.89	−0.70	1	+1
	Total	1,686,763			75
	Labor	Win			42	+5
	Commonwealth Liberal				32	−6

Notes

• Independents: George Wise (Gippsland, Vic)
• Thirteen members were elected unopposed – seven Labor and six Commonwealth Liberal.

Senate[]

Senate 1914–17 (FPTP BV) — Turnout 72.64% (Non-CV) — Informal N/A

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Seats held	Change
	Labor	6,119,018	52.15	+3.43	31	31	+2
	Commonwealth Liberal	5,605,305	47.77	−1.61	5	5	−2
	Independents	9,799	0.08	–0.78	0	0	0
	Total	11,734,122			36	36

Seats changing hands[]

Post-election pendulum[]

See also[]

• Candidates of the 1914 Australian federal election
• Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1914–1917
• Members of the Australian Senate, 1914–1917

Notes[]

References[]

• University of WA election results in Australia since 1890