House of Representatives Members – 7th Parliament 1917-1919

This is the full list of members who served in the seventh House of Representatives from 1917 until 1919.

In a 75-member chamber, the Nationalist Party (made up of the former Commonwealth Liberal Party and ALP conscription defectors) won a landslide victory at the May 5, 1917 election, winning 53 seats to the ALP’s 22. Prime Minister William Morris Hughes is the only person to have led a Labor and a non-Labor government in the federal parliament.

The Nationalists polled 54.22% of the primary vote, an increase of 7.01%. The ALP, now led by Frank Tudor, polled 43.94%, a decrease of 6.96%. It was the last federal election to be held using first-past-the-post voting.

The 14 ALP defectors fared well at the election. Ten retained their seats as Nationalists. Hughes transferred to Bendigo. William Spence was defeated in Darling but re-entered the House in June 1917 after winning a by-election in Darwin (Tas). Josiah Thomas (Barrier) moved to the Senate. George Dankel (Boothby) died before the election.

There were six by-elections in the Seventh Parliament, five caused by the deaths of sitting members. Two members of the Victorian Farmers’ Union won by-elections, presaging the rise of the Country Party over the next two elections.

• Darwin – 1917 – Charles Howroyd (Nat) died five days after polling day and was replaced by William Spence (Nat). Howroyd is the shortest-serving member of the House ever.
• Grampians – 1917 – Carty Salmon (Nat) died and was replaced by Edmund Jowett (Nat).
• Flinders – 1918 – Sir William Irvine (Nat) resigned and was replaced by the future prime minister, Stanley Melbourne Bruce (Nat). Irvine, a former Premier of Victoria, went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
• Swan – 1918 – Sir John Forrest died and was replaced by Edwin Corboy (ALP). At 22, Corboy was the youngest-ever member of the parliament, a record not broken until Wyatt Roy won Longman at the age of 20 in 2010.
• Corangamite – 1918 – James Chester Manifold (Nat) died and was replaced by William Gibson (VFU), in the first House election ever held using preferential voting.
• Echuca – 1919 – Albert Palmer (Nat) died and was replaced by William Hill (VFU).

The first table shows the state-by-state breakdown of the House following the 1917 election. The second table lists the 81 members who served in the 7th House of Representatives, 75 elected at the general election in 1917, plus six who entered via by-elections.