1946 Henty by-election

Victoria parliamentary no 30 March 1946 Popular Jo Gullett 1954.jpg Jo Gullett Liberal Party of Australia 38,718 54.32% 16.24pp Australian Labor Party ALP Val Doube Australian Labor Party 32,556 45.68% 45.68pp MP Arthur Coles Independent Jo Gullett Liberal Party of Australia 1946 Henty by-election March 2024 April 2022 A by-election was held in the Henty electorate in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on 30 March 1946, following the resignation of independent MP Arthur Coles. Background Coles, a prominent businessman and founder of the Coles supermarket chain, had won the seat as an independent United Australia Party candidate at the 1940 federal election. The seat had been left open due to the death of incumbent MP Henry Gullett, a senior minister in the Menzies government, in the Canberra air disaster five weeks before the election. Coles had duly joined the United Australia Party in early 1941, but resigned in August that year after Menzies was deposed as leader. He subsequently joined with another independent, Alexander Wilson, to vote down the Fadden UAP government in October 1941, installing Labor leader John Curtin as Prime Minister. He had generally been seen as sympathetic to Labor thereafter, and was re-elected in 1943 against Gullett's son, Henry "Jo" Gullett. In February, 1946, he was appointed chairman of the new Australian National Airlines Commission by Curtin's successor Ben Chifley, thus necessitating his resignation from parliament, which occurred on 12 February. Preselection July 2010 Results Henty by-election, 1946By-Elections 1943-1946 Psephos http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1943/1943repsby.txt https://web.archive.org/web/20080803015412/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1943/1943repsby.txt dead 3 August 2008 Jo Gullett Liberal 38,718 54.32 +16.24 Val Doube Labor 32,556 45.68 +45.68 71,274 98.50 +1.89 1,086 1.50 -1.89 72,360 89.46 -8.07 Liberal Independent +16.24 References Category:1946 elections in Australia Category:Victorian federal by-elections Category:1940s in Melbourne Category:March 1946 in Australia