page_title: Harold Holt
section_title: Early political career
hierarchical_section_title: Harold Holt / Early political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian politicians Harold Holt, Robert Menzies, and Geoffrey Street in Melbourne on the day Menzies became prime minister for the first time. Holt and Street became members of his ministry.
context_page_description: Harold Edward Holt, CH, was an Australian politician who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1966 until his presumed drowning death in 1967. He was the leader of the Liberal Party during that time.
  Holt, born in Sydney, lived in Melbourne from 1920. He was the first prime minister born in the twentieth century, after the Federation of Australia. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and had his own legal practice, becoming, at twenty-seven years of age, the member for Fawkner in the House of Representatives at a 1935 by-election. A protégé of Robert Menzies, he was a minister in the 1939 United Australia Party government. He held a series of minor portfolios until the government's defeat in 1941. His tenure was interrupted by a brief stint in the Australian Army, which ended when he was recalled to cabinet following the deaths of three ministers in the 1940 Canberra air disaster. He joined the new Liberal Party upon its creation in 1945.
  When the Liberals came to office in 1949, Holt became a senior figure in the new government.
context_section_description: In 1933, Holt joined the Young Nationalists, the youth wing of the United Australia Party. He cultivated a friendship with Mabel Brookes, and through Brookes became acquainted with senior members of the influential Australian Women's National League (AWNL). He also secured the patronage of Robert Menzies, with whom he shared a similar background and political views. At the 1934 federal election, Holt stood for the UAP in the Division of Yarra. It was a safe seat for the Labor Party, held by the party's leader (and former prime minister) James Scullin. Holt lost heavily, as was expected, but was praised for his campaigning. Early the following year, he contested Clifton Hill – another safe Labor seat – at the Victorian state election, losing to Bert Cremean. Holt was eventually elected to parliament on his third attempt, winning a federal by-election for the seat of Fawkner in August 1935; his predecessor, George Maxwell, had died in office. He won UAP preselection against five other candidates, a victory which Smith's Weekly attributed to his "political godmothers" in the AWNL. His new seat was centred on Melbourne's wealthy inner-eastern suburbs.
  Holt was twenty-seven years old when he entered parliament, making him its youngest member. He kept a relatively low profile in his first few years, but spoke on a wide range of topics. When Robert Menzies became prime minister in April 1939, he made Holt one of four ministers without portfolio. His inclusion was made possible by the collapse of the coalition with the Country Party – previously a certain number of positions had been reserved for Country MPs, but the new ministry was composed solely of UAP members. Although Holt officially had no portfolio, he effectively served as an assistant minister to Richard Casey, who headed the Department of Supply and Development. He was given responsibility for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and also acted for periods as Minister for Trade and Customs and Minister for Civil Aviation and Air while the incumbents were overseas. Holt's first stint as a government minister came to an end in March 1940, when the coalition with the Country Party was reinstituted. His replacement was Arthur Fadden, another future prime minister.
caption: Holt with Robert Menzies on 26 April 1939, the day Menzies first became prime minister
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