The 21 May 2022 Australian general election
brought in a new Labor government with Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister and
resulted in a new Opposition leader and leader of the Nationals.
This may be a period of stability in leadership following a
few frenetic years from 2007 when there were a series of changes in the
leadership of Australia’s largest political parties. For a party in government,
this results in a change to the prime ministership, and from the November 2007
election until the 2019 election Australia had six prime ministers—Kevin Rudd
(twice), Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison (see
Appendix A)—along with five Opposition leaders (Brendan Nelson, Turnbull,
Abbott, Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese).
This quick guide outlines the current rules relating to the
election of leaders for the four largest federal parliamentary parties: the
Liberal Party (LIB), the Nationals (NATS), the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and
the Australian Greens (AG). Appendices provide prime ministerial changes since
2007 together with a list of the changes and challenges to leaders of the
Liberal Party, the Nationals, and the ALP since the 1940s. The Brief also
provides changes to major party leaders in United Kingdom, New Zealand and
Canada.
Leadership selection models
Until recently, federal Members of Parliament have retained
the exclusive right to elect their party leaders, and Australian political
parties have been slow to adopt more democratic models of electing their leadership.
It is largely the parliamentary party room of the major parties that hold the
key to the position (and tenure) of Australian prime ministers. Until 2013,
when the ALP adopted new rules relating to the election of its leader, only the
Australian Democrats—no longer a party represented in the federal parliament—have
included members in the election of the party leader.[1]
A number of overseas political parties have moved to
democratise party processes and now include party members in the election of
party leaders. In the United Kingdom, for example, the two major political
parties have given formal voting rights to their individual members in leadership
elections—since 1998 for the Conservative Party and 1981 for the Labour Party.
Methods of leadership change
The most public, and arguably the most controversial, way of
changing leaders is by a leadership spill. A number of leadership spills have
occurred in recent times resulting in a change to the prime ministership.
Recent examples include the 2018 removal of Malcolm Turnbull and the promotion
of Scott Morrison to leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister, and in
2013 Kevin Rudd replacing Julia Gillard as the Labor prime minister. The first
of these over the last decade was the 2010 replacement of Kevin Rudd by Julia
Gillard as leader of the ALP. Other less public changes have occurred as well,
most regularly following an election defeat. Appendix B includes tables which
outline the leadership changes, through spills or due to other factors, for the
Liberal Party, the ALP and NATS.
Leadership spills
A leadership spill (or simply spill) is a declaration that
the leadership of a parliamentary party (also known as a caucus) is vacant and
open for re-election.[2] A spill may involve all leadership positions (leader and deputy leader in both
houses), or just the leader. If there are one or more challengers a ballot or
series of ballots may be held. Factors that can contribute to a spill include
bad polling or disagreement about the direction of a party, or a spill may be
called by a leader to quell grumblings about a party’s leadership.
A spill will result in a change to the leadership of a
parliamentary party if:
- a leader decides not to participate in a contest for the
leadership or
- a leader participates in, but does not win, a leadership contest.
Party rules relating to the election of a leader of federal
parties (normally the leader of the federal parliamentary party) are not
transparent. While reference may be made to the election of the leader of a
federal parliamentary party in the Constitution/Rules of the party, the details
of the process are not readily apparent. Details of, and commentary on, these
processes are mainly provided though the media.
As a means of providing greater stability in the leadership
of the two major parties, ALP and LIB party leaders have made the rules more
rigorous by placing constraints on when and how a leadership ballot can occur.
Other mechanisms of leadership
change
Apart from leadership spills, change to the leadership of a
political party can take place in a number of ways, including:
- resignation of a leader for personal reasons—for example, Mark Latham
(ALP) in 2005
- resignation of a leader following appointment to another
position—for example, Bert Evatt (ALP) in 1960
- retirement of a leader—for example, Robert Menzies (LIB) in 1966
- resignation of a leader following an election defeat of the
party—for example, Malcolm Fraser (LIB) in 1983
- a leader losing their seat at an election—for example, John
Howard (LIB) in 2007 and
- a leader dying in office—for example, John Curtin (ALP) in July
1945.
See Appendix B for a
summary of leadership changes in the ALP, the Liberal Party and the Nationals
since the 1940s resulting from the causes listed above or a spill.
Australian Labor Party
On 8 July 2013, prime minister Kevin Rudd announced
proposed changes to the ALP leadership rules. The changes included votes by
the party membership and votes by the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party (FPLP),
weighted at 50 per cent each, and processes for when and how a leader can be
challenged and the amount of Caucus support needed to mount a challenge to the
leader. A special meeting of the Caucus on 22 July 2013 endorsed
the proposals, but agreed that a petition challenging the leader should
require 60 per cent Caucus support rather than the 75 per cent proposed by
Rudd. It was also agreed that, when the ALP does not form the government the
period between the federal election and the election of its leader, the deputy
leader or the highest ranked House of Representatives member would act as
leader. Chris Bowen was nominated interim leader in 2013 and Bill Shorten
remained as interim leader in 2019 until the election of Mr Albanese in late
May 2019.
Mr
Rudd (Griffith, QLD) stood down from the leadership following defeat at the
7 July 2013 election. Both Mr
Albanese (Grayndler, NSW) and Mr
Shorten (Maribyrnong, Vic.) stood for the position of leader. Under the
ALP’s new rules, there were ballots by rank and file party members and by the
parliamentary caucus. Mr Albanese won the popular vote but Mr Shorten won the weighted
Caucus vote, so became leader.
The rule that the prime minister can only be
removed if 75 per cent of MPs agree to force a ballot (or 60 per cent of caucus
for an opposition leader) is a caucus-approved rule and is not included in the
2018 National Platform.
The 2018 ALP National
Platform sets out the current rules for electing a party leader:
Federal Parliamentary Leader
27 (a) This clause applies when the rules of the FPLP require
the election of the Leader of the FPLP (in this clause, “the Leader”) to
include a ballot of Party members other than members of the FPLP.
(b) The Leader must be elected by:
(i) a ballot of eligible Party members, and
(ii) a ballot of the members of the FPLP, where the results
of each ballot are given equal weighting and added together.
(c) In paragraph (b)(i), “eligible Party member”:
(i) means a financial Party member at the time nominations
open who has not subsequently resigned or been expelled; but
(ii) does not include members of the FPLP.
(d) The National Executive must make rules for the conduct of
the election, including the ballot under paragraph (b)(i), in consultation with
the FPLP.
(e) The FPLP must make rules for the conduct of the election,
including the ballot under paragraph (b)(ii), in consultation with the National
Executive.
Following the defeat of the ALP at the 18 May 2019
election Bill Shorten announced
he was standing down as leader. The process for filling
the position was initiated by the ALP National Executive. Nominations for
the position of leader opened on 23 May 2019 and closed on 27 May
2019. A candidate requires 20 per cent support of the caucus to nominate. If
there is only one nomination, no ballot will occur. If there are
two or more nominations, then there is a ballot of both the parliamentary party
and grassroots members. A postal vote of members was to take place from
31 May to 27 June.
On 19 May 2019 Anthony Albanese nominated for the position of leader. Other
contenders, Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, NSW), Chris Bowen (McMahon, NSW)and Jim Chalmers (Rankin, QLD) decided not to
contest the position or withdrew their candidacy. The ALP party room met on
30 May 2019, and Mr Albanese was elected unopposed. The ALP won the 21 May 2022
election and Mr Albanese was sworn-in as Prime Minister on 23 May 2022.
Australian Greens
The Charter
and Constitution of the Australian Greens refers to the federal
parliamentary leader but provides no detail of how the person is elected. Under
the current AG rules, only members of the federal parliamentary party elect the
party leader. The Greens hold a leadership ballot after each federal election.
An article in the Green Magazine notes
that the Party Room Rules contain the formal bylaws
that govern the processes and procedures of the Party Room meetings. They are
similar to many Greens meeting rules, and also contain extra rules around
electing the positions of leader, deputy, whip and Party Room chair. With only
two leadership transitions in its history, the Greens Party Room has not had to
put these rules into practice often.
In a farewell
address to the National Press Club on 7 May 2015, former leader Senator
Christine Milne (Tas) said that the issue of
grassroots members having a role in electing the leader had been considered as
part of a constitutional review, but that the 2014 Greens National Conference
had ‘determined that the process we have be the process into the future’. Milne
referred to the fate of the (now deregistered) Australian Democrats Party,
stating that ‘[y]ou only have to look back at the history of the Democrats to
see how the direct election of leaders can go awry’. Senator
Richard di Natale (Vic) was elected leader on 6 May 2015.
Following the 2019 election the Greens party room met on 12
June 2019; following the spill of the leadership positions, the leader
and other office holders were all returned without challenge. A survey
of party members indicated that 70 per cent did not support the current
model for electing the party leader. Senator di Natale indicated that he
supported the continuation
of the conversation within the party over the leadership model.
Senator di Natale announced his resignation as party leader
on 3 February 2020. On 4 February 2020 Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Vic) was elected
leader uncontested. Larissa Waters (Qld) was elected Leader in the Senate
and Nick McKim (Tas) was elected as Deputy Leader in the Senate.
Following the 2022 election the Greens party room met on 10
June 2022 to re-elect
Mr Bandt as leader and elect Senator Mehreen Faruqi (NSW) as Deputy leader.
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party Federal
Constitution provides:
52. The Parliamentary Party shall:-
(a) appoint its Leader, who shall thereupon become the
Parliamentary Leader of the Organisation
On 24 August 2018 former treasurer Scott
Morrison (Cook, NSW) was sworn-in as Australia’s
30th prime minister by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove. This followed a
turbulent week within the LIB party room. On 21 August 2018 a leadership spill
occurred—prime minister Turnbull (Wentworth, NSW) won a leadership ballot against Home Affairs
Minister Peter Dutton (Dickson, QLD) 45 to 38 votes.
Following further instability within the party another leadership spill was called by the prime
minister for 24 August 2018. When the spill motion was successful, Mr Turnbull
stood down as leader; in the subsequent ballot Mr Morrison defeated Mr Dutton
45 to 40 votes.
In December 2018 Prime Minister Morrison announced
a change to the rules for election of the leader of the Liberal Party:
if an elected Liberal Party leader goes to the election, wins
that election and becomes prime minister, they will remain prime minister for
the full parliamentary term.
They will not be able to be removed from office. That could
only happen — as a safeguard — by meeting the very high bar of a special
majority two-thirds vote.
Mr Morrison did not face a leadership spill following the
Coalition Government’s victory at the 2019 federal election.
Following the 2022 election Mr Morrison conceded defeat
and resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on 21 May 2022. Following a party
room meeting on 30 May 2022 it was announced that Mr Dutton was elected
unopposed as Leader of the Opposition and Sussan Ley (Farrer, NSW) as
Deputy Leader.
The Nationals
The federal party room elects its office bearers; no detail
is provided as to the process used.
The 2017 National
Party of Australia Federal Constitution provides:
Officers of the Federal Parliamentary Nationals
26.1 Officers of the Federal Parliamentary Nationals shall be
the:
(a) Federal Leader
(b) Deputy Federal Leader ….
26.2 The officers of the Federal Parliamentary Nationals
shall be elected by that Party in such manner as it shall think fit.
On 23 February 2018 the NATS leader, Barnaby
Joyce (New England, NSW), resigned following weeks of controversy over his personal life. In the subsequent party
room meeting Michael
McCormack (Riverina, NSW) was elected as leader unopposed. Following the
2019 election the NATS party room met on 23 May 2019; Michael McCormack was returned
as the leader.
Mr McCormack retained
his leadership following a spill motion brought on by Llew O’Brien (Wide
Bay, Qld) on 4 February 2020.
Senator Matt Canavan (Qld) called for a leadership spill
on 21 June 2021 during a party room meeting. Mr Joyce was returned
as leader.
Following the 21 May 2022 election the Nationals
party room met on 30 May 2022 with all leadership positions spilled. Three
people each had nominated for the leader and deputy positions: David
Littleproud (Maranoa, QLD) was elected
leader and Senator Perin Davey (NSW) was elected deputy leader.
Selected overseas countries
United Kingdom
Labour Party
In 1981 UK Labour adopted a three-way electoral college
model consisting of members of the parliamentary party, affiliated members (for
example, trade unions) and Labour Party members. The rules were amended in 1993
and again in 2014. The rules governing the process are set out in the Labour
Party Rule Book (chapter 4, clause 11). In 2010, Ed Miliband won the
leadership contest with a majority of union votes but not a majority of the
votes of MPs or party members. The
Guardian newspaper observed before the vote that ‘Labour is lucky, save in
the 1981 deputy leadership contest, that it has never elected a leader or
deputy in the modern era against the majority wishes of ordinary party
members’.
The new process for selecting the party leader (following
the 2014 changes) was used for the first time following the resignation of Ed
Miliband in May 2015, after the party's general election defeat. Overall, 422,664
voted in the Labour leadership election, comprising 245,520 members, 105,598
registered supporters and 71,546 trade union affiliates. Four contenders
nominated, with Jeremy
Corbyn elected leader in the first round of voting with 251,417 votes (59.5
per cent of the total vote). Following a vote of no confidence in Mr Corbyn in
June 2016, another leadership ballot occurred. The overall number of votes increased
to 506,438. Mr Corbyn was re-elected as leader of the Labour Party; he won
313,209 votes (61.8 per cent of the vote), compared to Owen
Smith’s 193,229.
Following the 2019 General Election, Jeremy Corbyn announced
that he would stand down as leader of the Labour Party early in 2020, once a
contest to replace had been completed. The National Executive Committee (NEC)
announced the timetable for the 2020 contest on 6 January 2020. Six candidates
nominated.
On 4 April 2020 Sir Keir Starmer was elected
as the new party leader with 56% of the vote on the first round of voting.
Rebecca Long-Bailey received 28% and Lisa Nandy received 16%. Angela Rayner was
elected as the Deputy Leader of the Party.
The election of Labour Party leaders is described in detail
in a House of Commons Library briefing paper: Leadership
elections: Labour Party.
Conservative Party
The current rules for electing the leader of the
Conservative Party were introduced in 1998 and are set out in the Constitution
of the Conservative Party (Part 111 and Schedule 2). The current system of
electing the Leader of the Conservative Party consists of two stages:
- Conservative Members of Parliament select two candidates through
a ballot process to present to the membership of the whole party and
- party members vote, on a ‘one member one vote’ basis, for
their preferred candidate of the selected two.
A leadership contest can be triggered in two ways:
- if 15 per cent of Conservative MPs write to the Chairman of the
1922 Committee (formally known as the Conservative Private
Members’ Committee) saying they no longer have confidence in the leader
of the Conservative Party, or
- if the current leader resigns.
A leader losing the confidence of the parliamentary
party is not allowed to participate in the resulting leadership election.
If re-elected, the leader is immune from
challenge for a year.
Theresa
May was confirmed as leader of the Conservative Party on 13 July 2016 after
a leadership contest. There were initially five candidates, but after two
ballots of Conservative MPs all but Theresa May had been eliminated or
withdrawn. Mrs May was then confirmed as party leader without the need for a
ballot of party members. On 12 December 2018, Theresa May withstood a vote of
no confidence, winning 200 votes to 117.
On 24 May 2019 Mrs May announced she would resign the
leadership on 7 June 2019. Under the rules a contender requires the support of
eight MPs to nominate as a candidate for the leadership ballot. At the close of
nominations on 10 June 2019, there were 10 candidates. Under the
new rules, candidates need to win the votes of at least 17 MPs in the first
ballot and 33 MPs in the second to proceed. Subsequent ballots then
occur until only two candidates remain. Once two candidates
have been selected by MPs, the Conservative Party's members will vote to choose
the winner. After five rounds of voting by Conservative MPs, the two final
candidates were Boris Johnson, former Foreign Secretary
and ex-Mayor of London and Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary. On
23 July 2019 the new leader was announced: Mr Johnson won
66 per cent of the votes–92,153, to Hunt’s 46,656. Turnout was 87.4 per cent
among the Conservative Party’s 159,320 eligible members.
On 24 July 2019, following Mrs May’s resignation, Mr Johnson visited Buckingham
Palace and was asked to form a government.
A 2019
House of Commons Library briefing paper provided further detail of the
process.
On 7 July 2022 Mr Johnson announced his resignation as party leader. He pledged to remain Prime Minister until a new leader was in
place and the timetable for the leadership election was announced. The Party
announced the timetable for the election: nominations closed at 18:00 on
Tuesday 12 July 2022. Eight members nominate in the first round. After five
rounds of voting among Conservative MPs, Sunak, the former chancellor, received
137 votes (38.3%), Truss, then foreign secretary, received 113 votes (31.6%),
and Penny Mordaunt, minister of state for trade policy, was eliminated from the
running with 105 votes (29.3%).
This House of Commons Library briefing
paper sets out the current rules for election of a Conservative Party
leader, and the background to their introduction. Party members who have been
members for at least three months immediately prior to the close of the ballot
shall be entitled to vote approximately 180,000 people. The party member ballot
closed 2 September with the winner announced on 5 September 2022.
Sunak and Truss spent much of July and the whole of August
appealing for support. In the end, Truss defeated Sunak by 81,326 (57%) to 60,399 votes (43%). She was sworn in as Prime
Minister on 6 September 2022.
On 20 October 2022 Ms Truss announced
her resignation as leader of the Conservative Party and therefore as Prime
minister. The subsequent leadership
contest was to be finalised in a week starting with race between those
contenders who could muster 100 parliamentary party votes by 2pm 24 October.
There were three
possible contenders, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak,
former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Leader of the House of Commons, Penny
Mordaunt. Mr Johnson withdrew from the leadership race and Ms Mordaunt conceded
to Mr Sunak prior to the 2pm deadline. Mr Sunak became the UK's third prime
minister in less than two months and took the oath of office on 25 October
2022.
Canada
In Canada, most of the major parties have also adopted a
more democratic election process involving members.
Liberal Party
The Canadian Liberals present one of the more marked
examples of the shift towards supporters’ networks. In May 2016 the Liberal Party
voted at its conference to adopt a
new constitution to ensure a more open and accessible party. Changes
included anyone willing to register with the party (for free) being able to
participate in policy development and candidate and leadership selection. The
party, currently in government in Canada under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, advertises itself not as a party but as an open movement. The Constitution
of the Liberal Party of Canada (Clause 46) states:
The Leadership Vote is a direct vote of all Registered
Liberals who have a right to vote on the Leadership Vote weighted equally for
each electoral district in Canada and counted in accordance with this Section.
b. Every Registered Liberal who ordinarily resides in Canada
has the right to vote on the Leadership Vote, if that Registered Liberal has:
i. been a Registered Liberal for the 41 days immediately
preceding the day of the Leadership Vote; and,
ii. complied with the registration procedures established by
the National Board or by the Leadership Vote Committee.
Mr Trudeau retained the leadership following the September
2021 election with the Liberal Party retaining
power but failing to gain a majority of seats.
Conservative Party
The Conservative
Party of Canada Constitution (part 10) outlines the process for the
election of the leader, including direct participation of the party membership:
10.10 The election of the Leader shall be by way of a direct
vote of members in every electoral district, as follows.
10.10.1 Each member of the Party will have one vote.
10.10.2 Each electoral district will be allocated 100 points.
10.10.3 Leadership candidates will be assigned a point total
based on their percentage of the vote in each electoral district.
10.10.4 To win the leadership, a candidate must obtain a
majority of points from across the country.
10.10.5 Voting will be by preferential vote (single
transferable ballot).
The party retains a registration fee for membership. A
leadership election was held on 27 May 2017 following a long process (former
leader and prime minister Stephen Harper had resigned as party leader on 19
October 2015 and as prime minister on 4 November 2015 following the defeat of
the Conservative Party at the 2015 general election). Nominations for the
candidates did not close until 31 December 2016, and 14 candidates nominated.
After twelve rounds of voting by eligible party members two candidates were
selected. The final thirteenth round was between candidates Andrew Scheer and
Maxime Bernier, with Scheer successful. Mr Scheer resigned
as leader following Conservative Party defeat at the October 2019 election,
but stayed on in the position until a replacement was elected.
Erin O’Toole became leader on 24 August 2020 in the third
round of voting. Mr O’Toole retained the leadership following a disappointing
result at the September 2021 election but was ousted on 2 February 2022 by 73 to 45 votes. A leadership ballot was conducted. On 10
September 2022 Pierre Poilievre was elected the new
leader of the Conservative Party with 68% of the points on the first round
of voting.
New Zealand
Labour Party
In November 2012 the New Zealand Labour Party adopted a
model, much like that used by UK Labour, giving caucus 40 per cent of the vote,
party members 40 per cent and affiliated unions 20 per cent.
The New
Zealand Labour Party Constitution (part 9) sets out the arrangements for
electing the party leader through votes cast in an electoral college. The
leader must be a Member of Parliament. No later than three months after an
election there has to be a caucus vote to endorse the leader; the vote has to
be 60 per cent plus one for endorsement. An election for the position of leader
is triggered if 50 per cent plus one of the caucus passes a motion not endorsing the leader.
9.12.1
The election of the Leader of the Labour Party must be determined
by the votes cast in an electoral college composed of the following:
(a) Parliamentary Labour Party Caucus (40% of the total vote):
(b) Party members (40% of the total vote):
(c) Affiliate Party members (20% of the total vote).
9.12.2
Voting must be preferential and concurrent in all cases
Jacinda Ardern became leader of the Labour
Party on 1 August 2017 seven weeks before the national election, following the
resignation of Andrew Little as leader after a
historic low poll result for the party. As the only officially nominated
candidate, Ms Ardern was unanimously confirmed as the new leader at a caucus
meeting the same day.
Ms Ardern retained the party leadership
following Labour’s landslide victory at the 17 October 2020
election.
National Party
The Constitution
and Rules of the New Zealand National Party (paragraph 82) provides little
detail on the process of appointing a leader. The parliamentary section (party
members elected to the Parliament) appoints the party leader, and the National
Party Board has to approve the chosen leader. The Constitution states that the
parliamentary section may confirm or change its leader at any time between general
elections. On 13 February 2018 Bill English announced
he would be standing down as leader of the National Party, effective 27
February. Five candidates nominated; one later withdrew. After a secret caucus
ballot, Simon
Bridges was announced as the new leader. In May 2020, in response to
Bridges's low approval rating, National MPs Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye mounted
a challenge
for the leadership and deputy leadership of the National Party.
Todd
Muller became leader on 22 May 2020 but stood down abruptly, due to health
reasons, in July 2020. Judith Collins was elected
leader on 14 July 2020 but was ousted on 25 November 2021 following a caucus vote of no confidence.
Christopher
Luxon was elected leader on 30 November 2021.
Appendix A
Table 1: prime ministerial changes
since 2007
| Prime minister |
Party |
Period of service |
| Kevin Rudd |
ALP |
3 Dec 2007—24 June 2010 |
| Julia Gillard |
ALP |
24 June 2010—27 June 2013 |
| Kevin Rudd |
ALP |
27 June 2013—18 Sept 2013 |
| Tony Abbott |
LIB |
18 Sept 2013—15 Sept 2015 |
| Malcolm Turnbull |
LIB |
15 Sept 2015—24 Aug 2018 |
| Scott Morrison* |
LIB |
24 Aug 2018—21 May 2022 |
| Anthony Albanese |
ALP |
23 May 2022— |
*At the 18 May 2019 general election Mr Morrison became the
elected prime minister.
Appendix B
The following tables list the leaders of the Liberal Party,
National Party and the Australian Labor Party since 1941, together with how and
when they became leader. Included are changes and challenges resulting from the
death of a leader, voluntary resignation, standing down after an election
defeat and leadership spill motions and ballots.
Post-election ballots where the incumbent leader continued
as leader are not included. In many cases actual ballot figures are not available
as the ballot papers were destroyed after the vote.
Table 2: federal Liberal Party
leadership changes and challenges, 1941–2018
| Date of change /
challenge
Government/Opposition
|
Leader
|
Challenger/s
|
Method of change
|
Result
|
28 August
1941
Government |
Robert
Menzies
(leader of
United Australia Party (UAP)) |
|
Menzies
resigns as prime minister, 29 Aug 1941. |
Deputy prime
minister Arthur
Fadden (CP) becomes prime minister. |
9 October 1941
Opposition |
R Menzies |
William
(Billy) Hughes |
Menzies resigns as leader of the UAP. |
Hughes becomes leader. |
22 September 1943
Opposition |
B Hughes |
R Menzies |
Spill motion. |
Menzies elected leader of UAP.
Liberal Party formed in 1944. |
January 1966
Government |
|
|
Menzies retires 26 Jan 1966. |
Harold
Holt becomes prime minister (elected leader unopposed). |
9 January 1968
Government |
|
Senator
J Gorton
Paul
Hasluck
Leslie
Bury
Billy
Snedden |
PM Holt disappears in the sea off Portsea on 17 Dec
1967.
John McEwen (CP) acting prime minister. |
Gorton becomes prime minister.
Bury and Snedden eliminated in the first round.
In the second round Gorton wins 51:30. |
7 November 1969
Government |
J Gorton |
William
McMahon
David
Fairbairn |
Spill motion
initiated by Fairbairn. The ballot papers were destroyed immediately after
the meeting. |
Gorton remains prime minister (retains leadership
reportedly with as few as 33 or 34 of the 65 votes). |
10 March 1971
Government |
J Gorton |
W McMahon |
No-confidence motion moved in the party room. |
McMahon becomes prime minister.
Vote tied 33:33; Gorton uses his casting vote against
himself. |
20 December 1972
Opposition
|
|
B
Snedden
Nigel
Bowen
James
Killen
John Gorton
Malcolm
Fraser |
Post-election ballot.
McMahon resigns as leader on 5 December following
the Government’s defeat at the 2 Dec 1972 election. |
Snedden elected leader.
Killen, Fraser and Gorton eliminated in early rounds.
Snedden wins over Bowen 30:29. |
26 November 1974
Opposition |
B Snedden |
|
A group of MPs confront Snedden to ask him to resign; he
refuses, but calls a party room meeting for the next day. Tony
Staley moves that the leadership be declared vacant, seconded by John
Bourchier.
The motion is defeated. |
Snedden retains leadership. |
21 March 1975
Opposition |
B Snedden |
M
Fraser |
Andrew
Peacock calls on Snedden to hold a party room meeting to enable a confidence
vote following calls by senior parliamentary Liberals for Snedden to resign. |
Fraser elected leader.
A vote of confidence in Snedden fails; in a subsequent
vote Fraser is elected leader 37:27. |
8 April 1982
Government |
M Fraser |
A
Peacock |
Leadership spill. |
Fraser wins 54:27. |
11 March 1983
Opposition |
|
A Peacock
John
Howard |
Post-election ballot.
Fraser resigns as leader after the 5 March 1983
election defeat. |
Peacock elected leader 36:20. |
5 September 1985
Opposition |
A Peacock |
J Howard
James
(Jim) Carlton |
Leadership spill.
Vote for spill of leadership positions 35:34 (1 informal).
Peacock stands down as leader. |
Howard elected leader.
Howard 57: Carlton 6 (7 informal). |
18 July 1987
Opposition |
J Howard |
A Peacock |
Post-election ballot following defeat at the 11 July
1987 election. |
Howard remains leader 41:28. |
9 May 1989
Opposition |
J Howard |
A Peacock |
Leadership spill. |
Peacock elected leader 44:27. |
3 April 1990
Opposition |
|
John
Hewson
Peter
Reith
Alasdair
Webster |
Post-election ballot.
Peacock resigns as leader following loss at the 24
March 1990 election. |
Hewson elected as leader.
Hewson 62; Reith 13; Webster 5. |
23 March 1993
Opposition |
J Hewson |
J Howard
Bruce
Reid |
Post-election ballot following loss at 13 March 1993
election. |
Hewson remains leader.
Hewson 47; Howard 30; Reid 1. |
23 May 1994
Opposition |
J Hewson |
Alexander
Downer |
Party room spill. |
Downer elected leader 43:36. |
30 January 1995
Opposition |
|
J Howard |
Downer resigns from leadership 26 Jan 1995. |
Howard elected leader unopposed. |
29 November 2007
Opposition |
|
Brendan
Nelson
Malcolm
Turnbull |
Post-election ballot.
Howard loses his seat at the 24 Nov 2007
election; deputy leader Peter
Costello announces he will not contest the ballot.
Tony Abbott rules himself out of the contest on 28
Nov 2007. |
Nelson elected leader 45:42. |
16 September 2008
Opposition |
B Nelson |
M Turnbull |
Party room spill. |
Turnbull elected leader 45:41. |
25 November 2009
Opposition |
M Turnbull |
|
Party room spill motion moved by Wilson
Tuckey and Dennis
Jensen.
Kevin
Andrews announces he will stand if there is a leadership ballot. |
Spill motion defeated 48:35. |
1 December 2009
Opposition |
M Turnbull |
Anthony
(Tony) Abbott
Joseph
(Joe) Hockey |
Spill motion for the leadership position is successful
48:34. |
Abbott elected leader.
First ballot Hockey 23; Turnbull 26; Abbott 35. In the run-off
Abbott is elected leader 42:41. |
9 February 2015
Government |
T Abbott |
|
A party room spill motion is moved by Dennis Jensen and Don
Randall and is defeated 39:61 (1 informal vote). |
There was no declared candidate should the leadership have
become vacant. |
14 September 2015
Government |
T Abbott |
M Turnbull |
Leadership spill. |
Turnbull is elected leader 54:44. |
21 August 2018 Government |
M Turnbull |
Peter
Dutton |
Turnbull instigates a leadership ballot at a special party
room meeting. |
Turnbull is elected leader 48:35. |
24 August 2018 Government |
M Turnbull |
Scott
Morrison
P
Dutton
Julie
Bishop |
A spill motion for the leadership is carried 45:40.
Turnbull resigns.
J Bishop is eliminated in the first round. |
In the second ballot Morrison is elected leader 45:40. |
30 May 2022
Opposition |
S Morrison |
Peter Dutton |
Post-election ballot.
Mr Morrison resigned as leader. |
Mr Dutton elected unopposed. |
Sources: G Starr, The
Liberal Party of Australia: a documentary history, Drummond Heinemann, Richmond,
Vic.,1980; various media articles.
Table 3: federal Labor Party
leadership changes and challenges, 1941–2018
| Date of change /
challenge
Government/Opposition
|
Leader
|
Challenger/s
|
Method of change
|
Result
|
October 1941
Government |
John Curtin |
|
Curtin dies in office 5 July 1945. |
Francis
Forde appointed leader pending a caucus leadership election. |
12 July 1945
Government |
F Forde |
Ben
Chifley
Norman
Makin |
Caucus leadership ballot. |
Chifley elected leader. |
20 June 1951
Opposition |
|
|
Chifley dies in office on 13 June 1951. |
Herbert
(Bert) Evatt elected unopposed to succeed Chifley. |
3 August 1954
Opposition |
B Evatt |
Thomas
Burke |
Post-election leadership ballot. |
Evatt remains leader 68:20. |
13 October 1954
Opposition |
B Evatt |
|
George
Cole moves a spill of all leadership positions. |
Evatt has the vote deferred for a week on a technicality. |
20 October 1954
Opposition |
B Evatt |
|
Cole proceeded with his motion |
Spill vote defeated 52:28. |
18 April 1955
Opposition |
B Evatt |
Arthur
Calwell
T Burke |
Evatt resigns his position but recontests the leadership
ballot. |
Evatt remains leader.
Evatt 52; Calwell 22; Burke 5; informal 1. |
13 February 1956
Opposition |
B Evatt |
Allan
Fraser |
Post-10 Dec 1955 election ballot. |
Evatt elected leader (no ballot figures). |
16 February 1959
Opposition |
B Evatt |
Edward
(Eddie) Ward |
Post-22 Nov 1958 election ballot. |
Evatt remains leader 46:32. |
7 March 1960
Opposition |
|
A Calwell
Reginald
Pollard |
Evatt is
appointed Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court on 1 Feb 1960. |
Calwell
elected leader 42:30.
|
27 April 1966
Opposition |
A Calwell |
Gough
Whitlam (deputy leader) |
Leadership challenge. |
Calwell remains leader 49:24. |
8 February 1967
Opposition |
A Calwell |
G Whitlam
James
(Jim) Cairns |
Post-26 Nov 1966 election ballot.
Calwell does not recontest the leadership. |
Whitlam elected leader. |
30 April 1968
Opposition |
G Whitlam |
J Cairns |
Leadership spill.
On 19 April 1968 Whitlam advises he will
resign and recontest his position at a special caucus on 30 April
1968. |
Whitlam remains leader 38:32. |
27 January 1976
Opposition |
G Whitlam |
Lionel
Bowen
Francis
(Frank) Crean |
Post-13 Dec 1975 election ballot. |
Whitlam remains leader.
Whitlam 36; Bowen 14; Crean 13. |
31 May 1977
Opposition |
G Whitlam |
William
(Bill) Hayden |
Mid-term ballot as a result of a Jan 1976 caucus
ruling that all FPLP leadership positions would be vacated mid-1977. |
Whitlam remains leader 32:30. |
22 December 1977
Opposition |
G Whitlam |
B Hayden
L Bowen |
Post-election ballot. Whitlam does not recontest the
leadership. |
Hayden elected leader. |
16 July 1982
Opposition |
B Hayden |
Robert
(Bob) Hawke |
Leadership spill. |
Hayden remains leader 42:37. |
3 February 1983
Opposition |
B Hayden |
|
Hayden resigns. No ballot. |
Hawke elected leader unopposed. |
June 1991
Government |
B Hawke |
Paul
Keating (deputy leader) |
Leadership spill. |
Hawke remains leader 66:44. |
16 December 1991
Government |
B Hawke |
P Keating |
Leadership spill. |
Keating elected leader 56:51. |
19 March 1996
Opposition |
|
|
Keating resigns following the loss of 2 March
1996 election. |
Kim
Beazley elected unopposed (no challenges during this term). |
22 November 2001
Opposition |
|
|
Beazley resigns following defeat at the 10 Nov
2001 election. |
Simon
Crean elected leader unopposed. |
16 June 2003
Opposition |
S Crean |
K Beazley |
Leadership ballot. |
Crean remains leader 58:34. |
2 December 2003
Opposition |
|
Mark
Latham
K Beazley |
Crean resigns; Latham and Beazley stand for the
leadership. |
Latham elected leader 47:45. |
28 January 2005
Opposition |
|
|
Latham resigns following the 9 Oct 2004
election loss. Contenders Rudd and Gillard choose not to contest a ballot. |
Beazley elected leader unopposed. |
4 December 2006
Opposition |
K Beazley |
Kevin
Rudd |
Leadership spill. |
Rudd elected leader 49:39. |
24 June 2010
Government |
K Rudd |
Julia
Gillard |
Leadership spill, but no vote as Rudd does not contest the
ballot. |
Gillard elected leader unopposed. |
27 February 2012
Government |
J Gillard |
K Rudd |
Leadership spill. |
Gillard elected leader 71:31. |
21 March 2013
Government |
J Gillard |
|
Spill motion is called for by S Crean; Gillard calls a
snap leadership ballot.
The likely challenger, Rudd, does not stand. |
Gillard remains leader (unopposed). |
26 June 2013
Government |
J Gillard |
K Rudd |
Leadership spill. |
Rudd is elected leader 57:45. |
13 October 2013
Opposition |
|
Anthony
Albanese
William
(Bill) Shorten |
Rudd stands down following defeat at the 7 July
2013 election. Albanese wins the party members vote; Shorten wins the
weighted caucus vote. |
Shorten is elected leader with 52.02 per cent of both
party and caucus votes (Albanese 47.98 per cent).
Caucus votes: Shorten 55: Albanese 31. |
30 May 2019
Opposition |
|
A Albanese
|
Shorten stands down following defeat at the 18
May 2019 election.
Tanya
Plibersek announces she will not contest the ballot; Chris
Bowen withdraws from the contest, as does Jim
Chalmers. |
Albanese elected leader unopposed. |
21 May 2022
Government |
A Albanese |
|
|
|
Sources: R
McMullin, The light on the hill: the Australian Labor Party 1891–1991,
Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1991; various media reports.
Table 4: federal National Party
leadership changes and challenges, 1941–2018
| Date of change /
challenge
Government/Opposition
|
Leader
|
Challenger/s
|
Method of change
|
Additional information
|
16 October 1940
Government |
Archie
Cameron |
Earle
Page |
Post-election ballot.
|
Cameron and Page both received eight votes. The impasse was
resolved by electing Arthur
Fadden as deputy leader and appointing him as acting leader until another
ballot could be conducted. |
12 March 1941
Government |
A Fadden (acting) |
|
Formal meeting. |
Fadden confirmed as leader. |
26 March 1958
Government |
|
|
Fadden stands down as leader but remains treasurer until
next election. |
John
McEwen elected as leader unopposed. |
2 February 1971
Government |
|
Douglas
Anthony
Ian
Sinclair |
McEwen retires 1 Feb 1971. |
Anthony elected as leader. |
17 January 1984
Opposition |
|
|
Anthony resigns as leader. |
Sinclair chosen to replace Anthony. |
23 July 1987
Opposition |
I Sinclair |
Ray
Braithwaite |
Post-election ballot. |
Sinclair elected leader 20:6. |
9 May 1989
Opposition |
I Sinclair |
Charles
Blunt
John
Stone |
Leadership spill. |
C Blunt elected leader (no record of the votes). |
10 April 1990
Opposition |
|
I Sinclair
Tim
Fischer
John
Sharp
Peter
McGauran
Garry
Nehl |
Post-election leadership ballot.
Blunt loses his seat at the 24 March 1990
election. |
Fischer is elected leader in the final count with a margin
of four votes over Sharp. |
23 March 1993
Opposition |
T Fischer |
I Sinclair |
Post-election ballot. |
Fischer remains leader. |
20 July 1999
Government |
|
|
Fischer stands down as party leader (and minister). |
John
Anderson is elected leader unopposed. |
23 June 2005
Government |
|
|
Anderson stands down as leader. |
Mark
Vaile unanimously elected as leader. |
3 December 2007
Opposition |
|
|
Post-election ballot.
Vaile stands down as leader on 26 Nov 2007.
Frontrunner for the position P McGauran announces he will not stand for the leadership on 28 November. |
Warren
Truss unanimously elected as leader. |
12 February 2016
Government |
|
|
Truss stands down as leader 11 Feb 2016 and retires
9 May 2016. |
Barnaby
Joyce elected leader unopposed. |
26 February 2018
Government |
B Joyce |
Michael
McCormack
David
Gillespie
Darren
Chester
David
Littleproud |
Joyce resigns as leader effective 26 Feb 2018.
Gillespie, Chester and Littleproud do not contest the
ballot. |
McCormack elected leader unopposed. |
February 2020
Government |
M McCormack |
B Joyce |
|
McCormack retained leadership |
21 June 2021
Government |
M McCormack |
B Joyce |
Senator M Canavan initiates
spill of the position of leader |
Barnaby Joyce elected leader |
30 May 2022
Opposition |
B Joyce |
D Chester
D Littleproud |
Post-election ballot. |
Mr Littleproud elected leader |
Sources: P
Davey, Ninety not out: the Nationals 1920–2010, University of New South
Wales Press, Sydney, 2010; various media articles.
Parliamentary Library publications
J Wilson, Prime
Ministers and ALP leadership challenges, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library
blog, 27 February 2012.
D McKeown, Electing the party leader, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 1 October
2013.
D McKeown, Electing the party leader - recent events in Australia and the UK, Flagpost, Parliamentary
Library blog, 22 May 2015.
C Madden, Prime ministers and recent Liberal Party leadership challenges, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 15 September 2015.
J Wilson, R
Lundie and D McKeown, Zippers: former prime ministers leaving parliament, Flagpost, Parliamentary Library blog, 14 November 2015.