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1983 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An election for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia took place on 11 March 1983, following the resignation of Malcolm Fraser following his defeat at the 1983 federal election. The contest was won by Andrew Peacock over John Howard by 36 votes to 20.[1]
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11 March 1983
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Candidates
- John Howard, incumbent deputy leader, former treasurer, member for Bennelong
- Andrew Peacock, former minister for industry, member for Kooyong
Background
Outgoing Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser resigned his leadership on the 6th of March after losing the 1983 election to Bob Hawke in order to allow the party to refresh and unite. Likewise, he would go on to resign his seat in parliament, at the relatively young, age of 52. Acknowledging he still had a strong and keen interest in politics but wanted to allow the party to grow under new leadership.[2][3]
Results
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The following tables gives the ballot results:[4]
Leadership ballot
| Name | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Peacock | 36 | 64.3 | |
| John Howard | 20 | 35.7 | |
Deputy leadership ballot
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Howard | 30 | 53.6 | |
| Ian Macphee | 12 | 21.4 | |
| Steele Hall | 9 | 16.1 | |
| John Moore | 3 | 5.4 | |
| Michael Hodgman | 2 | 3.6 | |
Aftermath
The Liberal Party under the leadership of Peacock went on to lose the 1984 election to a politically and electorally strong Prime Minister Bob Hawke. The Liberal Party and Peacock Leadership had already been viewed by some as divided and fragile, as such would eventually result in Howard winning leadership in 1985[5][6][7]