# 1925 Australian federal election

The 1925 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 14 November 1925. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives and 22 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist–Country coalition, led by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, defeated the opposition Labor Party led by Matthew Charlton in a landslide. This was the first time any party had won a fourth consecutive federal election.
Compulsory voting for federal elections was introduced in 1924 and first used in the 1925 elections, where 91.4% of the electorate cast a vote, compared to 59.4% at the 1922 elections.

## Background

In 1924, Bruce and Page formulated an electoral pact between the Nationalist Party and Country Party, whereby each party agreed not to oppose incumbent candidates from the other party and to co-operate to choose the strongest candidate in seats held by the ALP. Both parties agreed to accept the pact, although only after both Bruce and Page made clear they would resign as party leaders if the pact was rejected. The pact proved particularly controversial within the Country Party, with cabinet minister Percy Stewart resigning in protest and some members of the organisational wing seeing it as an attack on the party's independence.

## Campaign

Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was a supporter of the White Australia Policy, and made it an issue in his campaign for the 1925 Australian Federal election.
   It is necessary that we should determine what are the ideals towards which every Australian would desire to strive. I think those ideals might well be stated as being to secure our national safety, and to ensure the maintenance of our White Australia Policy to continue as an integral portion of the British Empire. We intend to keep this country white and not allow its people to be faced with the problems that at present are practically insoluble in many parts of the world.

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) – 1925–28 – Turnout 91.39% (CV) – Informal 2.36% :
| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,551,760 | 53.20 | +5.41 | 51 | +11 |
| | | Nationalist | 1,238,397 | 42.46 | +7.23 | 37 | +11 |
| | | Country | 313,363 | 10.74 | –1.82 | 13 | –1 |
| | Labor | Labor | 1,313,627 | 45.04 | +2.74 | 24 | –6 |
| | Independents | Independents | 51,251 | 1.76 | –2.80 | 2 | +1 |
| | Total | Total | 2,916,638 | | | 76 | |
| Two-party-preferred (estimated) ||||||||
| | Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | Win | 53.80 | +2.60 | 51 | +11 |
| | Labor | Labor | | 46.20 | −2.60 | 23 | –6 |

#### Notes

* Independents: Percy Stewart (Wimmera, Vic.), William Watson (Fremantle, WA).
* Labor lost Kennedy, Qld., when the sitting member Charles McDonald died on the day before the election, leading to his opponent Grosvenor Francis being declared elected unopposed.
Popular vote
Labor
45.04%
Nationalist
42.46%
Country
10.74%
Others
1.76% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
53.80%
Labor
46.20% :
Parliament seats
Coalition
68.00%
Labor
30.67%
Others
2.67% :

### Senate

Senate (P BV) – 1925–28 – Turnout 91.31% (CV) – Informal 6.96% :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Nationalist–Country coalition | Nationalist–Country coalition | 1,537,282 | 54.81 | N/A | 22 | 28 | N/A |
| | Nationalist | 1,272,127 | 45.35 | +9.12 | 18 | 24 | 0 |
| | Country | 265,155 | 9.45 | –3.53 | 4 | 4 | +4 |
| Labor | Labor | 1,262,912 | 45.02 | –0.67 | 0 | 8 | –4 |
| Independents | Independents | 4,808 | 0.17 | –1.87 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,805,002 | | | 22 | 36 | |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1925 | Pre-1925 | Pre-1925 | Pre-1925 | Swing | Post-1925 | Post-1925 | Post-1925 | Post-1925 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Angas, SA | | Labor | Moses Gabb | 8.0 | 8.3 | 0.3 | Walter Parsons | Nationalist | |
| Balaclava, Vic | | Liberal | William Watt | 100.0 | 30.3 | 19.7 | William Watt | Nationalist | |
| Barker, SA | | Liberal | Malcolm Cameron | 2.3 | 9.3 | 11.6 | Malcolm Cameron | Nationalist | |
| Barton, NSW | | Labor | Frederick McDonald | 7.6 | 8.6 | 1.0 | Thomas Ley | Nationalist | |
| Darwin, Tas | | Country | Joshua Whitsitt | 0.4 | 10.9 | 10.5* | George Bell | Nationalist | |
| Denison, Tas | | Labor | David O'Keefe | 0.4 | 2.6 | 2.2 | John Gellibrand | Nationalist | |
| Gwydir, NSW | | Labor | Lou Cunningham | 0.1 | 3.2 | 3.1 | Aubrey Abbott | Country | |
| Kennedy, Qld | | Labor | Charles McDonald | N/A | 100.0 | 100.0 | Grosvenor Francis | Nationalist | |
| Kooyong, Vic | | Liberal | John Latham | 0.6 | 18.3 | 17.7 | John Latham | Nationalist | |
| Wakefield, SA | | Liberal | Richard Foster | 5.3 | 9.5 | 14.8 | Richard Foster | Nationalist | |
| Wannon, Vic | | Labor | John McNeill | 0.8 | 4.8 | 4.0 | Arthur Rodgers | Nationalist | |
| Wimmera, Vic | | Country | Percy Stewart | 21.2 | 77.8 | 27.8 | Percy Stewart | Independent | |
* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
* *Figure is Nationalist versus Labor.