1976 Australian Labor Party leadership spill
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A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, the party of opposition in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 27 January 1976, the date of the first Caucus meeting following the 1975 election.
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27 January 1976
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Dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was comfortably re-elected leader of the ALP ahead of senior MPs Lionel Bowen and Frank Crean on the first ballot. A much more extensive series of ballots was required to fill the deputy leadership with eight contenders narrowed down to a final ballot seeing Tom Uren narrowly defeat Paul Keating 33 votes to 30.[1]
To date, this is the last Australian Labor Party leadership spill at the federal level to be contested by more than two candidates.
Candidates
- Lionel Bowen, 53, former minister for manufacturing industry, member for Kingsford Smith
- Frank Crean, 59, incumbent deputy leader, former minister for overseas trade, member for Melbourne Ports
- Gough Whitlam, 59, incumbent leader, member for Werriwa
Withdrawn candidates
- Gordon Bryant, former minister for the Capital Territory, member for Wills[2]
Potential candidates who declined to run
- Bill Hayden, former treasurer, member for Oxley
Results
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Leader
The following table gives the ballot results:
| Name | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gough Whitlam | 36 | 57.14 | |
| Lionel Bowen | 14 | 22.22 | |
| Frank Crean | 13 | 20.63 | |
Deputy leader
The following table gives the ballot results:[3]
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | 3rd ballot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Uren | 15 | 26 | 33 | |
| Paul Keating | 13 | 21 | 30 | |
| Mick Young | 13 | 16 | Eliminated | |
| Kim Beazley | 6 | Eliminated | ||
| Gordon Bryant | 5 | Eliminated | ||
| Gordon Scholes | 4 | Eliminated | ||
| Moss Cass | 4 | Eliminated | ||
| Les Johnson | 3 | Eliminated | ||