1946 Henty by-election

1946 Henty by-election

30 March 1946

First party Second party   ALP Candidate Jo Gullett Val Doube Party Liberal Labor Popular vote 38,718 32,556 Percentage 54.32% 45.68% Swing 16.24pp 45.68pp

MP before election Arthur Coles Independent Elected MP Jo Gullett Liberal

A by-election was held in the Henty electorate in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on 30 March 1946, following the resignation of independent MP Arthur Coles.

Background

Coles, a prominent businessman and founder of the Coles supermarket chain, had won the seat as an independent United Australia Party candidate at the 1940 federal election. The seat had been left open due to the death of incumbent MP Henry Gullett, a senior minister in the Menzies government, in the Canberra air disaster five weeks before the election.

Coles had duly joined the United Australia Party in early 1941, but resigned in August that year after Menzies was deposed as leader. He subsequently joined with another independent, Alexander Wilson, to vote down the Fadden UAP government in October 1941, installing Labor leader John Curtin as Prime Minister. He had generally been seen as sympathetic to Labor thereafter, and was re-elected in 1943 against Gullett's son, Henry "Jo" Gullett. In February, 1946, he was appointed chairman of the new Australian National Airlines Commission by Curtin's successor Ben Chifley, thus necessitating his resignation from parliament, which occurred on 12 February.

Results

Henty by-election, 1946

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jo Gullett	38,718	54.32	+16.24
	Labor	Val Doube	32,556	45.68	+45.68
Total formal votes			71,274	98.50	+1.89
Informal votes			1,086	1.50	−1.89
Turnout			72,360	89.46	−8.07
	Liberal gain from Independent		Swing	+16.24