1985 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill

Liberal Party of Australia
Leadership spill, 1985

← 1983

5 September 1985

1987 →

		LIB
Candidate	John Howard	Jim Carlton
Caucus vote	57	6
Percentage	81.4%	8.6%
Seat	Bennelong (NSW)	Mackellar (NSW)

Leader before election

Andrew Peacock

Elected Leader

John Howard

There was a change of leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia on 5 September 1985 with John Howard replacing Andrew Peacock.

A spill of the deputy leadership of the party took place on that day, Peacock attempting to replace John Howard with his preferred candidate John Moore. The spill was won by Howard over Moore by 38 votes to 31 with 7 members abstaining.

Upon rejection of his candidate for the deputy leadership, Andrew Peacock resigned and was replaced by John Howard as leader defeating Jim Carlton 57 votes to 6. The Deputy leadership was then filled by Neil Brown defeating 11 others (including Moore) for the position.

Background

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Initial Deputy Candidates

John Howard, incumbent Deputy Leader, Shadow Treasurer, Member for Bennelong
John Moore, Shadow Minister for Communications, Member for Ryan

Withdrawn Candidates

Michael Hodgman, Shadow Minister for Housing and Construction, Member for Denison

Initial Results

Liberal Party of Australia
deputy leadership ballot, 1985

← 1983


Candidate	John Howard	John Moore
Caucus vote	38 (50.0%)	31 (40.8%)

Deputy Leader before election

John Howard

Elected Deputy Leader

John Howard

Spill motion to vacate deputy leadership

Spill motion to vacate deputy leadership
Support	Votes
Yes	35
No	34

Deputy leadership ballot

Name		Final ballot	Percentage
	John Howard	38	50.0
	John Moore	31	40.8
Informal		7	9.2

Final Candidates

Jim Carlton, former Shadow Minister for Health, Member for Mackellar
John Howard, incumbent Deputy Leader, Member for Bennelong

Results

Liberal Party of Australia
deputy leadership ballot, 1985

1987 →


Candidate	Neil Brown	Ian Macphee
Caucus vote	36	15
Percentage	51.4%	21.4%
Seat	Menzies (Vic.)	Goldstein (Vic.)


Candidate	John Moore	Peter Shack
Caucus vote	11	8
Percentage	15.7%	11.4%
Seat	Ryan (Qld.)	Tangney (WA)

Deputy Leader before election

John Howard

Elected Deputy Leader

Neil Brown

The following tables gives the ballot results:

Leadership ballot

Name		Votes	Percentage
	John Howard	57	81.4
	Jim Carlton	6	8.6
Informal		7	10.0

Deputy leadership ballot

	Final ballot	%
Neil Brown	36	51.4
Ian Macphee	15	21.4
John Moore	11	15.7
Peter Shack	8	11.4

Other candidates in order of elimination:

Aftermath

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References

^ "Howard Leads the Liberals". The Canberra Times. 6 September 1985. p. 1.
"Peacock's Bouncer Goes for Six". Canberra Times (Act : 1926 - 1995). 6 September 1985. p. 9.

v t e Liberal Party of Australia
Leaders	Robert Menzies Harold Holt John Gorton William McMahon Billy Snedden Malcolm Fraser Andrew Peacock John Howard Andrew Peacock John Hewson Alexander Downer John Howard Brendan Nelson Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison Peter Dutton
Deputy Leaders	Eric Harrison Harold Holt William McMahon John Gorton Billy Snedden Phillip Lynch John Howard Neil Brown Andrew Peacock Fred Chaney Peter Reith Michael Wooldridge Peter Costello Julie Bishop Josh Frydenberg Sussan Ley
Presidents	Malcolm Ritchie Richard Casey W. H. Anderson Lyle Moore Philip McBride J. E. Pagan Robert Southey John Atwill A. J. Forbes John Valder John Elliott Ashley Goldsworthy Tony Staley Shane Stone Chris McDiven Alan Stockdale Richard Alston Nick Greiner John Olsen
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Ministries	Menzies 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Holt 1 2 Gorton 1 2 McMahon Fraser 1 2 3 4 Howard 1 2 3 4 Abbott Turnbull 1 2 Morrison 1 2
Shadow cabinets	Snedden Fraser Peacock I Howard I Peacock II Hewson Downer Howard II Nelson Turnbull Abbott Dutton
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Party-related organisations	Australian Liberal Students' Federation Coalition Cormack Foundation Norfolk Liberals Young Liberals Young LNP Menzies Research Centre
Factions	Moderates Centre Right Independent Liberal National Right Ginger Group (defunct) Lyons Forum (defunct)
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Leadership spills and elections in Australia

Labor Party

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See spills of: New South Wales • Victoria

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