Eric Harrison

Eric Harrison
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office
21 February 1945 – 26 September 1956
LeaderRobert Menzies
Preceded byParty established
Succeeded byHarold Holt
Leader of the House
In office
11 May 1951 – 26 September 1956
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHarold Holt
Deputy Leader of the United Australia Party
In office
14 April 1944 – 21 February 1945
LeaderRobert Menzies
Preceded byBilly Hughes
Succeeded byparty abolished
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office
23 April 1950 – 30 March 1951
Preceded byJack Beasley
Succeeded byThomas White
In office
25 October 1956 – 25 October 1964
Preceded byThomas White
Succeeded byAlick Downer
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Wentworth
In office
19 December 1931 – 17 October 1956
Preceded byWalter Marks
Succeeded byLes Bury
Personal details
Born(1892-09-07)7 September 1892
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Died26 September 1974(1974-09-26) (aged 82)
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyUAP (1931–45)
Liberal (from 1945)
Spouses
Mary McCall
(m. 1920⁠–⁠1941)
Linda Yardley
(m. 1944)
Children3, including Shirley Walters

Sir Eric John Harrison, KCMG, KCVO (7 September 1892 – 26 September 1974) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1964.

Harrison was born in Sydney and left school at the age of 13. He served with the Australian Army during World War I, and after the war's end became the manager of a textile factory. Harrison was elected to the House of Representatives in 1931, representing the United Australia Party (UAP). He served briefly as Minister for Interior in 1934, under Joseph Lyons, and returned to the ministry in 1938. Over the next three years he held positions in the governments of Lyons, Earle Page, Robert Menzies, and Arthur Fadden.

In 1944, Harrison replaced Billy Hughes as deputy leader of the UAP. When the new Liberal Party was formed the following year, he was elected to the same position. In Menzies' second government, Harrison held various defence-related portfolios. He was also made the inaugural Leader of the House in 1951. Harrison left politics in 1956 to become High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He retired in 1964, and suffered from Parkinson's disease in later years. His daughter, Shirley Walters, followed him into politics, becoming the first woman to represent Tasmania in the Senate.