# 1955 Australian federal election

The 1955 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. An early election was called to bring the House and Senate elections back in line; the previous election in 1954 had been House-only. The incumbent Liberal–Country coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies increased its majority over the opposition Labor Party, led by H. V. Evatt.
Future Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and future opposition leader Billy Snedden both entered parliament at this election.

## Results
### House of Representatives

House of Reps (IRV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.00% (CV) — Informal 2.88% :
| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,093,430 | 47.67 | +0.10 | 75 | +11 |
| | | Liberal | 1,745,985 | 39.75 | +0.75 | 57 | +10 |
| | | Country | 347,445 | 7.91 | –0.66 | 18 | +1 |
| | Labor | Labor | 1,961,359 | 44.65 | –5.42 | 49 | –10 |
| | Anti-Communist Labor | Anti-Communist Labor | 227,083 | 5.17 | +5.17 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communist | Communist | 51,001 | 1.16 | –0.09 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independents | Independents | 60,042 | 1.37 | +0.26 | 0 | 0 |
| | Total | Total | 4,392,915 | | | 122 | +1 |
| Two-party-preferred (estimated) ||||||||
| | Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | Win | 54.20 | +4.90 | 75 | +11 |
| | Labor | Labor | | 45.80 | −4.90 | 49 | −10 |
* Ten members were elected unopposed – five Liberal and five Country. This would be the last federal election where any seat attracted only one candidate.
Popular vote
Labor
44.65%
Liberal
39.75%
Country
7.91%
ALP AC
5.17%
Independent
1.37%
Communist
1.16% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Coalition
54.20%
Labor
45.80% :
Parliament seats
Coalition
61.48%
Labor
38.52% :

### Senate

Senate (STV) — 1955–58—Turnout 95.01% (CV) — Informal 9.63% :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change |
| Liberal–Country coalition | Liberal–Country coalition | 2,161,460 | 48.68 | +4.25 | 17 | 30 | –1 |
| | Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,748,878 | 39.38 | +12.93 | 8 | N/A | N/A |
| | Liberal | 384,732 | 8.66 | –9.32 | 8 | 24 | –2 |
| | Country | 27,850 | 0.63 | +0.63 | 1 | 6 | +1 |
| Labor | Labor | 1,803,335 | 40.61 | –10.00 | 12 | 28 | –1 |
| Anti-Communist Labor | Anti-Communist Labor | 271,067 | 6.10 | +6.10 | 1 | 2 | +2 |
| Communist | Communist | 161,869 | 3.64 | +0.59 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry George Justice | Henry George Justice | 3,366 | 0.08 | –0.22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Independents | Independents | 39,928 | 0.90 | +0.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 4,441,025 | | | 30 | 60 |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1955 | Pre-1955 | Pre-1955 | Pre-1955 | Swing | Post-1955 | Post-1955 | Post-1955 | Post-1955 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Ballaarat, Vic | | Labor | Bob Joshua* | 2.6 | 10.7 | 7.9 | Dudley Erwin | Liberal | |
| Hume, NSW | | Labor | Arthur Fuller | 2,2 | 3.5 | 2.2 | Charles Anderson | Country | |
| Maribyrnong, Vic | | Labor | Arthur Drakeford | 16.1 | 7.5 | 0.1 | Philip Stokes | Liberal | |
| Perth, WA | | Labor | Tom Burke | 2.3 | 3.8 | 1.5 | Fred Chaney | Liberal | |
| Philip, NSW | | Labor | Joe Fitzgerald | 8.9 | 5.7 | 1.1 | William Aston | Liberal | |
| St George, NSW | | Labor | Nelson Lemmon | 2.7 | 5.8 | 3.4 | Bill Graham | Liberal | |
* Bob Joshua contested his seat as a candidate for the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist).