1931 Parkes by-election

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^[1]
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

v t e By-elections of the 12th Parliament of Australia (1929–1931)
1929	Franklin
1931	Parkes East Sydney
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