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Report

House of representatives by-elections 1901–2015

Publisher
Elections Politicians House of Representatives (Australia) Australia
Resources
Attachment Size
apo-nid62426.pdf 768.25 KB
Description

Provides details of House of Representatives by-elections, from that held for Darling Downs on 14 September 1901 to the most recent held on 5 December 2015 for North Sydney.

Executive summary
This paper provides details of House of Representatives by-elections, from that held for Darling Downs on 14 September 1901 to the most recent held on 5 December 2015 for North Sydney. The following observations can be made about those by-elections:

  • there have been 149 by-elections, an average of 3.4 per parliament
  • the average number of nominations has grown over the years from 2.2 per by-election to 11.6 per by-election in only four cases was a by-election contested by just a single candidate
  • an increasing tendency has been for governments to avoid contesting by-elections in their opponents ’ safe seats
  • in only ten cases have the opposition party failed to contest a by-election
  • seventy-five of the by-elections followed the resignation of the member, 68 members died in office, there have been five voided elections, and one MP was expelled from the House
  • since 1949 most by-elections have been caused by the resignation of the sitting member and have occurred in safe seats
  • on 35 occasions the party complexion of a seat has altered at a by-election
  • five of the losses have been by the opposition of the day
  • the average two-party preferred swing against the government of the day has been 4.0 per cent
  • since 1949 the largest two-party swing against a government occurred in Canberra in 1995. The largest swing to a government occurred in McPherson in 1981.
Publication Details
Access Rights Type:
open