List of prime ministers defeated by votes of no confidence

Only one Australian prime minister, Malcolm Fraser, has ever been defeated in the House of Representatives by an explicit motion of no confidence.[1][2] In addition, six prime ministers were unable to enact important policy and therefore resigned, two prime ministers were unable to obtain supply from the House of Representatives, one prime minister was unable to obtain supply in the Senate and was dismissed by the Governor General, one Prime Minister never had the confidence of the House of Representatives, lost a motion of no confidence and refused to resign.[3]

These prime ministers were able to gain supply from the House of Representatives, but were unable to pass important policy-related legislation:

• Chris Watson (1904, Conciliation and Arbitration Bill)
• George Reid (1905, amendment on the address-in-reply)
• Alfred Deakin (1908, motion to change the time of the next meeting of parliament)
• Andrew Fisher (1909, a motion to adjourn debate)
• Stanley Bruce (1929, major bill defeated)
• James Scullin (1931, a motion to adjourn debate)

These prime ministers could not gain supply from the House of Representatives or an opposition amendment to a supply bill was passed:

• Alfred Deakin (1904, could pass no legislation)
• Arthur Fadden (1941, budget was amended down by £A1)
• Malcolm Fraser (1975, could pass no legislation and lost a no confidence motion by the House of Representatives which also called on the Governor-General to recommission a government under Gough Whitlam as Prime Minister)[4]

Gough Whitlam could not gain supply from the Senate which was controlled by the conservative Coalition. It thus precipitated the 1975 constitutional crisis and Whitlam was dismissed.

Following Whitlam's dismissal, Malcolm Fraser was appointed Prime Minister. He never had the confidence of the House of Representatives, and he lost a motion of no confidence by 10 votes in the House of Representatives two hours after the dismissal of Whitlam. However, the Governor-General refused to see the Speaker of the House of Representatives who was to convey this motion of no confidence to him, or to acknowledge the motion of no confidence of the House of Representatives which had also called on the Governor-General to recommission the government led by Gough Whitlam.[4] One hour later the Governor-General dissolved parliament with Fraser still in office.[2]

• Sebastian Kurz (2019)

• Philip Dimitrov (1992) - lost a vote of confidence

All no confidences are minority governments.

• Arthur Meighen (1926) - loss of confidence supply
• John Diefenbaker (1963) - loss of confidence supply as a result of cabinet revolt
• Pierre Trudeau (1974) - loss of confidence supply[5]
• Joe Clark (1979) - loss of confidence supply
• Paul Martin (2005) - opposition triggered motion[6]
• Stephen Harper (2011) - opposition triggered motion as a result of contempt of Parliament. Though the motion was made, Harper ended up winning a majority government the following election.[6][7]

• Terepai Maoate (2002)

• Tihomir Orešković (2016) - lost a vote of no confidence triggered by ruling party after he called for his vice-PM (ruling party president)'s resignation due to conflict of interest

• Mirek Topolánek (2006)
• Mirek Topolánek (2009)
• Jiří Rusnok (2013)
• Andrej Babiš (2018)

• Knud Kristensen (1947)

• Mart Laar 1st (1994) (after breaching a contract with Russia by selling stock Russian rubles to secessionist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria)
• Taavi Rõivas (2016) (after not leaving office when having lost parliamentary majority by coalition members leaving)

• V. J. Sukselainen (1957)

• Georges Pompidou (1962) - stayed on, National Assembly dissolved

• Franz von Papen (1932)
• Helmut Schmidt (1982)
• Helmut Kohl (1982) - lost a vote of no confidence (orchestrated by the majority with the aim of triggering an early federal election)
• Gerhard Schröder (2005) - lost a vote of no confidence (orchestrated by the majority with the aim of triggering an early federal election)

• Jacques-Édouard Alexis (2008)
• Michèle Pierre-Louis (2009)

• Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1990)
• H. D. Deve Gowda (1997)
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999)

• Charles Haughey (1982)[8]
• Albert Reynolds (1992)[9]

• Yitzhak Shamir (1990)

• Benito Mussolini (1943)[10]
• Amintore Fanfani (1954)
• Romano Prodi 1st (1998)
• Romano Prodi 2nd (2008)

• Shigeru Yoshida 2nd (1948)
• Shigeru Yoshida 4th (1953)
• Masayoshi Ohira (1980)
• Kiichi Miyazawa (1993)

• Sergey Tereshchenko (1994)

• Hashim Thaçi (2010)
• Isa Mustafa (2017)
• Albin Kurti (2020)

• Ali Zeidan (2014)

• Adolfas Šleževičius (1996)

• Alfred Sant (1998)
• Lawrence Gonzi (2012)

• Casten Nemra (2016)

• Ion Sturza (1999)
• Valeriu Streleț (2015)
• Maia Sandu (2019)

• Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1998)

• Sher Bahadur Deuba (1997)
• Lokendra Bahadur Chand (1997)

• Hendrikus Colijn (1939)
• Jo Cals (1966)

• Thomas MacKenzie (1912)

• Hama Amadou (2007)

• İrsen Küçük (2013)

• Christopher Hornsrud (1928)
• Einar Gerhardsen (1963)
• John Lyng (1963)
• Kjell Magne Bondevik (2000)

• Michael Somare (1980)
• Paias Wingti (1988)
• Sam Abal (2011)

• Jan Olszewski (1992)
• Hanna Suchocka (1993)
• Waldemar Pawlak (1995) - (orchestrated by the majority with the aim of changing the prime minister without consent of the President Lech Walesa)
• Marek Belka (2004) - lost a vote of confidence

• Mário Soares (1978, 1985)
• Francisco Pinto Balsemão (1983)
• Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1987)
• Passos Coelho (Parliament rejected government programme) (2015)

• Emil Boc (2009)
• Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (2012)
• Sorin Grindeanu (2017)
• Viorica Dăncilă (2019)
• Ludovic Orban (2020)

• Vladimír Meciar (1994)
• Iveta Radičová (2011)

• Lojze Peterle (1992)
• Janez Drnovšek (2000)
• Borut Pahor (2011)
• Janez Janša (2013)

• Francis Billy Hilly (1994)
• Manasseh Sogavare (2007, 2017)

• Ali Khalif Galaid (2001)
• Ali Muhammad Ghedi (2004)
• Abdi Farah Shirdon (Dec 2 2013)
• Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed (Dec 6 2014)

• Mariano Rajoy (2018)

• Mahinda Rajapaksa (Nov 14 2018)

• Ingvar Carlsson (1990)
• Stefan Löfven (2018)

• Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kâmil Pasha (1909)
• Sadi Irmak (1974)
• Bülent Ecevit (1977)
• Tansu Çiller (1995)
• Mesut Yılmaz (1996)

• Kamuta Latasi (1996)
• Bikenibeu Paeniu (1999)
• Faimalaga Luka (2001)
• Saufatu Sopoanga (2004)
• Maatia Toafa (2010)
• Willy Telavi (2013)

• Valeriy Pustovoitenko (1999)
• Viktor Yushchenko (2001)
• Viktor Yanukovych (2004)
• Yulia Tymoshenko (2010)
• Mykola Azarov (2014)

• Lord North (1782)[11]
• John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1866)
• Benjamin Disraeli (1868)
• William Ewart Gladstone (1885)
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1886)
• William Ewart Gladstone (1886)
• Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1892)
• Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1895)
• Stanley Baldwin (January 1924)
• Ramsay MacDonald (October 1924)
• James Callaghan (1979)

• Michael Misick (2009)

• Maxime Carlot Korman (1996)
• Barak Sopé (2001)
• Serge Vohor (2004)
• Edward Natapei (2010)
• Sato Kilman (2011)

• Radoje Kontić (1998)

These countries are generally parliamentary systems in which the President is elected by the Parliament but is also head of state.

• Gaston Flosse (2005, 2008)
• Oscar Temaru (2006, 2009)
• Gaston Tong Sang (2007, 2011)

• David A. Granger (2018)

• Teburoro Tito (2003)

• Litokwa Tomeing (2009)

• Lagumot Harris (1996)
• Bernard Dowiyogo (1996, 2001)
• Kinza Clodumar (1998)
• Ludwig Scotty (2003, 2007)
• René Harris (2004)

• Martín Vizcarra (2020)