Henry Bailey (Australian politician)

Henry Stephen Bailey (9 September 1876 – 26 July 1962) was an Australian politician.

Born in Ballarat East to stoker Thomas William Bailey and Margaret Kemple, he attended state school and St Patrick's College before becoming a law clerk at Ballarat and Port Fairy. On 11 February 1902 he married Blanche Mary Nicholson, with whom he had two sons; he would later marry Elizabeth Gibson on 23 August 1928 and have three children. In 1902 he served in South Africa as a lieutenant in the 4th Battalion; he was a councillor at Port Fairy from 1906 to 1915, serving as mayor from 1912 to 1913. In 1914 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for Port Fairy (he would switch seats to Warrnambool in 1927). In July 1924 he was appointed Minister of Lands and Water Supply, serving until November and again from May 1927 to November 1928 and from December 1929 to May 1932. In 1932 he was expelled from the Labor Party for supporting the Premiers' Plan to fight the Depression, and he was defeated in the election later that year. After contesting a by-election for his old seat in 1933 as an Independent candidate, he joined the Country Party in 1934 and was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly for Warrnambool in 1935, being immediately appointed minister without portfolio. He was given the Labour portfolio in June 1936 and was promoted to Attorney-General in April 1938, serving until September 1943. He held his seat until 1950, when he was defeated. Bailey died at St Kilda.