1940 Australian federal election

1940 Australian federal election

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All 75[b] seats of the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 19 (of the 36) seats of the Senate
Registered	4,239,346 3.90%
Turnout	3,979,009 (94.82%)[a] (1.31 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Menzies John Curtin Party UAP/Country coalition Labor Leader since 26 April 1939 1 October 1935 Leader's seat Kooyong (Vic.) Fremantle (WA) Last election 44 seats 29 seats Seats won 36 32 Seat change 8 3 Percentage 43.93% 40.16% Swing 4.65 3.01 TPP 49.70% 50.30% TPP swing 0.90 0.90   Third party Fourth party   IND Leader Jack Lang N/A Party Labor (Non-Communist) Independents Leader since N/A Leader's seat Reid (NSW) (won seat) N/A Last election new party 3 seats Seats won 4 seat 3 seats Seat change 4 Popular vote 202,721 289,335 Percentage +5.23 7.46% Swing 0.87 +1.90
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
Prime Minister before election Robert Menzies UAP/Country coalition Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Menzies UAP/Country coalition

The 1940 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Coalition, consisting of the United Australia Party led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Country Party led by Archie Cameron, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin despite losing the overall popular vote.

The Coalition won 36 seats, two short of a majority, but formed a government on 28 October 1940 with the support of both independent crossbenchers, Alexander Wilson and Arthur Coles. The four MPs elected to Lang Labor's successor, the Australian Labor Party (Non-Communist), officially re-joined the ALP just months after the election in February 1941, bringing the ALP to 36 seats. The UAP–Country minority government lasted only until October 1941, when the two independents crossed the floor and allowed the ALP to form a minority government with Curtin as prime minister. It remains the only time since the 1910 introduction of the two-party system where the government has changed as the result of a parliamentary confidence vote.

Future opposition leaders H.V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell both entered parliament at this election.
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