1913 Australian federal election

The 1913 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 31 May 1913. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, was defeated by the opposition Commonwealth Liberal Party under Joseph Cook. The new government had a majority of just a single seat, and held a minority of seats in the Senate.[1] It would last only 15 months, suffering defeat at the 1914 election.

1913 Australian federal election

31 May 1913 (1913-05-31)
All 75 seats in the House of Representatives 38 seats were needed for a majority in the House 18 (of the 36) seats in the Senate
First party Second party   Leader Joseph Cook Andrew Fisher Party Commonwealth Liberal Labor Leader since 20 January 1913 30 October 1907 Leader's seat Parramatta (NSW) Wide Bay (Qld) Last election 31 seats 42 seats Seats won 38 seats 37 seats Seat change 7 5 Popular vote 930,076 921,099 Percentage 48.94% 48.47% Swing 3.85% 1.50%
Popular vote by state with graphs indicating the number of seats won. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote by state but instead via results in each electorate.
Prime Minister before election Andrew Fisher Labor Subsequent Prime Minister Joseph Cook Commonwealth Liberal

The 1913 election was held in conjunction with six referendum questions, none of which were carried. According to David Day, Andrew Fisher's biographer, "it was probably the timing of the referenda that was most responsible for the disappointing election result" for the Labor Party.[2]