1952_Lyne_by-election
The 1952 by-election for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Lyne was called on 22 March after the death of the incumbent Country Party of Australia member Jim Eggins who died in office on 28 January.
Contesting the seat for the Country Party were Donald Lancaster and Philip Lucock, who had stood as one of multiple Country Party candidates for the seat at the 1949 election.[1]
Their main opponent was Edward Hayes of the Australian Labor Party. He had been the Labor party candidate at several previous polls.[1][2]
Two independents, Edward Spensley and Joe Cordner, also stood for the seat.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Edward Hayes | 13,588 | 37.3 | +7.4 | |
| Country | Philip Lucock | 10,994 | 30.2 | -3.1 | |
| Country | Donald Lancaster | 10,631 | 29.2 | -3.1 | |
| Independent Liberal | Edward Spensley | 775 | 2.1 | +2.1 | |
| Independent | Joe Cordner | 421 | 1.2 | -3.4 | |
| Total formal votes | 36,409 | 98.5 | |||
| Informal votes | 565 | 1.5 | |||
| Turnout | 36,974 | 92.1 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Country | Philip Lucock | 21,484 | 59.0 | -9.8 | |
| Labor | Edward Hayes | 14,925 | 41.0 | +9.8 | |
| Country hold | Swing | -9.8 | |||
The presence of two Country Party candidates split the vote and Hayes took three thousand votes more than either Lucock or Lancaster, but with preferences from Lancaster, Lucock easily won the seat.[3]
When Philip Lucock was sworn in as the member for Lyne on 22 March 1952, he became the first member of the House of Representatives to swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II who had ascended to the throne on 6 February.[4]
At the following Federal election in 1954 Lancaster stood as an independent candidate against his former Country Party colleague.[5]
- Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 10 December 1949". psephos. Adam Carr. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 1951". psephos. Adam Carr. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- "1952 Lyne By-election". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- "Condolence Motions" (PDF). House of Representatives Official Hansard. Commonwealth of Australia. 20 August 1996. pp. 26–32. Archived from the original (pdf) on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
- Adam Carr. "Commonwealth of Australia Legislative Election of 1954". psephos. Adam Carr. Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 8 October 2006.