May 1977 Australian Labor Party leadership spill

Australian Labor Party
Deputy Leadership spill, May 1977
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← 1976 December 1977 →
Deputy Leader before election; Tom Uren;	Deputy Leader after election ; Tom Uren;

A leadership spill of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), then the opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 31 May 1977. Former Treasurer Bill Hayden unsuccessfully challenged Labor leader Gough Whitlam. Whitlam was narrowly re-elected by 32 votes to 30 (the smallest possible majority) leading him to later refer to many in his caucus as 'out of touch'.^[1]

Background

After his party's heavy defeat at the 1975 election Gough Whitlam was comfortably re-elected leader of the ALP. However over the following year his support began to fall away and many MPs lobbied his former Treasurer Bill Hayden to stand against him. In March 1977 Hayden announced his candidacy.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Candidates

Bill Hayden, Shadow Minister for Economic Management, Member for Oxley
Gough Whitlam, incumbent Leader, Member for Werriwa

Potential candidates who declined to run

Lionel Bowen, Shadow Attorney-General, Member for Kingsford Smith^[5]

Results

Leadership ballot

The following tables gives the ballot results:^[6]

Name		Votes	Percentage
	Gough Whitlam	32	51.62
	Bill Hayden	30	48.38

Deputy leadership ballot

	1st ballot	2nd ballot
Tom Uren	28	34
Paul Keating	22	28
Chris Hurford	12	Eliminated

Aftermath

Despite surviving the vote the ALP only gained a handful of seats at the 1977 election, which prompted Whitlam to resign as leader with Hayden elected as his replacement.

References

^ Davidson, Gay (1 June 1977). "Many Labor MPs 'out of touch'". The Canberra Times. p. 1.
^ Gay Davidson (12 March 1977). "Hayden to run as leader of ALP". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
^ Gay Davidson (15 March 1977). "THE LABOR LEADERSHIP The factions gear up for the numbers games". The Canberra Times. p. 2. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
^ "Leadership vote: HAYDEN TO CHALLENGE WHITLAM". The Canberra Times. 31 May 1977. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
^ Gay Davidson (16 March 1977). "Spill of Labor posts likely". The Canberra Times. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
^ "Gough stays as ALP boss". The Canberra Times. 1 June 1977. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

[1] Davidson, Gay (1 June 1977). "Many Labor MPs 'out of touch'". The Canberra Times. p. 1.

[2] Gay Davidson (12 March 1977). "Hayden to run as leader of ALP". The Canberra Times. p. 1. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

[3] Gay Davidson (15 March 1977). "THE LABOR LEADERSHIP The factions gear up for the numbers games". The Canberra Times. p. 2. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

[4] "Leadership vote: HAYDEN TO CHALLENGE WHITLAM". The Canberra Times. 31 May 1977. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

[5] Gay Davidson (16 March 1977). "Spill of Labor posts likely". The Canberra Times. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2021.

[6] "Gough stays as ALP boss". The Canberra Times. 1 June 1977. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

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