1972 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election

Liberal Party of Australia
deputy leadership ballot, 1972
← 1971 (Aug) 1977 →
Deputy Leader before election; Billy Snedden;	Elected Deputy Leader ; Phillip Lynch;

An election for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 20 December 1972, following former prime minister William McMahon's resignation after his defeat at the 1972 federal election. Billy Snedden was successful in winning the leadership, narrowly beating Nigel Bowen by 30 votes to 29 on the fifth ballot. The previous ballot was tied at 29 each, with one MP not voting. James Killen, John Gorton, and Malcolm Fraser had earlier been eliminated from contention, in that order.^[1]

Background

Candidates

Nigel Bowen, former minister for foreign affairs, member for Parramatta
Malcolm Fraser, former minister for education and science, member for Wannon
John Gorton, former Leader and prime minister, member for Higgins
James Killen, former minister for the Navy, member for Moreton
Billy Snedden, incumbent deputy leader and former treasurer, member for Bruce

Results

The following table gives the ballot result:^[2]

Leadership ballot

Name		Final ballot	Percentage
	Billy Snedden	30	50.85
	Nigel Bowen	29	49.15

Deputy leadership ballot

Name		Final ballot	Percentage
	Phillip Lynch	<30
	Andrew Peacock	>29

Other candidates in order of elimination:

Aftermath

References

^ Solomon, David (21 December 1972). "Snedden Faces His First Problems". The Canberra Times. p. 3.
^ "Snedden faces his first problems". Canberra Times. 21 December 1972.

[1] Solomon, David (21 December 1972). "Snedden Faces His First Problems". The Canberra Times. p. 3.

[2] "Snedden faces his first problems". Canberra Times. 21 December 1972.

[1]

[2]

v t e Liberal Party of Australia
Leaders	Robert Menzies Harold Holt John Gorton William McMahon Billy Snedden Malcolm Fraser Andrew Peacock John Howard Andrew Peacock John Hewson Alexander Downer John Howard Brendan Nelson Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison Peter Dutton
Deputy Leaders	Eric Harrison Harold Holt William McMahon John Gorton Billy Snedden Phillip Lynch John Howard Neil Brown Andrew Peacock Fred Chaney Peter Reith Michael Wooldridge Peter Costello Julie Bishop Josh Frydenberg Sussan Ley
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