1931 Parkes by-election

1931 Parkes by-election

31 January 1931

First party Second party   ALP Candidate Charles Marr Joseph Martin Party Nationalist Labor Popular vote 31,227 22,394 Percentage 56.8% 40.7% Swing 14.6pp 17.1pp TPP 57.8% 42.2% TPP swing 15.6pp 42.2pp

MP before election Edward McTiernan Labor Elected MP Charles Marr Nationalist

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Parkes on 31 January 1931. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor MP Edward McTiernan to take a seat on the High Court.

The by-election was won by Nationalist candidate Charles Marr, who had represented the seat from 1919 until his defeat by McTiernan in 1929.

This was the first time the Communist Party endorsed a candidate at federal level.

Results

Parkes by-election, 1931

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nationalist	Charles Marr	31,227	56.8	+14.6
	Labor	Joseph Martin	22,394	40.7	−17.1
	Economic Reform	Richard Blake	986	1.8	+1.8
	Communist	Ted Tripp	382	0.7	+0.7
Total formal votes			54,989	97.5
Informal votes			1,431	2.5
Turnout			56,420	88.8
Two-party-preferred result
	Nationalist	Charles Marr		57.8	+15.6
	Labor	Joseph Martin		42.2	−15.6
	Nationalist gain from Labor		Swing	+15.6