1951 Macquarie by-election

* * *

|  | 28 July 1951 |

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|

|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |

LIB

IND

Candidate  | Tony Luchetti | William Hannam  | William Blanchard
Party  | Labor | Liberal | Independent Labor
Popular vote  | 18,426 | 12,356  | 3,853
Percentage  | 52.3% | 35.1%  | 10.9%
Swing  | 9.5pp  | 3.1pp  | 10.9pp

* * *

| MP before election

Ben Chifley
Labor

| Elected MP

Tony Luchetti
Labor

|

The 1951 by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Macquarie was held on 28 July after the death of the incumbent Australian Labor Party member, former Prime Minister Ben Chifley, who died on 14 June after suffering a heart attack. Chifley's death came less than three months after the 1951 general election.

## Candidates

[edit]

Contesting the seat for the Labor Party was Tony Luchetti, who had been the Lang Labor candidate in Macquarie in 1931 and 1934, his preferences defeating Chifley in 1931.[1][2] William Blanchard ran as an independent Labor candidate in protest at Luchetti's selection as Chifley's successor.[3]

Their main opponent was William Hannam of the Liberal Party of Australia.[3] Vernon Moffitt, representing the Communist Party of Australia, also ran.

## Results

[edit]

Macquarie by-election, 1951  Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

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|
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| Labor | Tony Luchetti | 18,426  | 52.3  | −9.5
| Liberal | William Hannam  | 12,356  | 35.1  | −3.1
| Independent Labor | William Blanchard  | 3,853  | 10.9  | +10.9
| Communist | Vernon Moffitt  | 575  | 1.6  | +1.6
Total formal votes  | 35,210  | 99.1  |
Informal votes  | 325  | 0.9  |
Turnout | 35,535  | 90.5  |

## Aftermath

[edit]

At the following 1954 general election Luchetti retained the seat and was the sole Labor candidate.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Australian federal by-elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 19 December 1931". psephos. Adam Carr. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
2. ^ Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 15 September 1934". psephos. Adam Carr. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
3. ^ a b Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative By-election of 1951 - Macquarie". psephos. Adam Carr. Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
4. ^ Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 29 May 1954". psephos. Adam Carr. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2011.

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