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
Registered2,811,515 Increase1.86%
Turnout1,726,906 (73.53%)[a]
(Increase0.04 pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Andrew Fisher Joseph Cook
Party Labor 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 Increase5 Decrease6
Popular vote 858,451 796,397
Percentage 50.89% 47.21%
Swing Increase2.42% Decrease1.73%
Results by division for the House of Representatives, shaded by winning party's margin of victory.
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 Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Joseph Cook, was defeated by the opposition Labor Party under Andrew Fisher, who returned for a third term as prime minister.

The Cook government is one of only two non-Labor governments in Australian history that did not last longer than the Labor government it had replaced; the other was the Howard government, which was defeated in 2007.

Additionally this marks the only time that three consecutive elections resulted in a change in government. In fact, since this election there have never been two consecutive elections resulting in a change in government. It also marks the third overall time that an election resulted in a change in government.

Fisher is one of only two Opposition Leaders from the Labor party to become prime minister with previous federal ministerial experience, the other being Anthony Albanese . This election was the second time he accomplished this, the first being in 1910. [citation needed]

This election resulted in the highest ever primary vote percentage for the Labor party at 50.89% and was the first time that the Labor party achieved more than 50% of the primary vote. The only other time this happened was in 1954.
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