In the running: the Liberals’ choice in 1968

The 1968 ballot was the first modern leadership election. Holt had been elected unopposed in 1966, as had Menzies in 1945, so the party had never had multiple contenders for the leadership before. Labor certainly had; only the previous year, Gough Whitlam faced four challengers when elected ALP leader, but that election had been conducted in relative privacy. The Liberal leadership vote had more publicity, not least because whoever won it would become prime minister. Four men threw their hats into the ring, and each of them had their own unique characteristics and devoted supporters.

The Campaign

Leadership elections were, and are, conducted behind closed doors in the Party Room. For the first time, however, the media played a significant role in the way the 1968 election was run, and the candidates themselves used the media to make their case. Television was the key to deciding who would take over from the late Harold Holt, because it was from TV that people were now getting their news. Australia wasn’t at the 24-hour news cycle stage yet, but the popularity of the nightly news bulletin and current affairs programs meant that more and more people were seeing for themselves what was happening. Whoever took the top job would need to be someone who could master the medium of television. Gough Whitlam already had – the young, dynamic, telegenic Labor leader was a much bigger threat in the TV age than his predecessor, Arthur Calwell, had been.

The press followed the campaign with interest, reporting every development. Speculation was the order of the day, with thousands of words penned on the relative merits of each candidate. One complication for the press was that nobody knew exactly who the candidates were even going to be. All the names mentioned above were mentioned by the press as potential leaders, but some didn’t make any kind of formal announcement.

Most of the speculation was on McMahon. Would he run, despite McEwen’s insistence that a McMahon government would not involve the Country Party? Many believed he was ambitious enough to do it, and thought he would call McEwen’s bluff (if it was a bluff). But McEwen’s actions probably sealed McMahon’s fate. Had the Country Party boss not intervened, McMahon might have had the numbers, but with McEwen’s pronouncement, his chances dwindled as Liberals looked elsewhere.

Gorton, Bury and Snedden made their intentions very plain to their colleagues. Gorton had the backing of the Chief Whip, Dudley Erwin, who knew what the backbench was thinking.  Gorton rang his colleagues asking for their vote, as did some of the others. Jim Killen, at the time a backbencher, later wrote that Gorton rang him and admitted he was not too good at asking for asking for votes. Nonetheless, he became the front runner through dogged campaigning, both personally and from his supporters.

Gorton’s only real rival, other than McMahon, was Paul Hasluck, who simply believed he was the most qualified and reasonable candidate, and didn’t do much canvassing at all. He evidently expected to win based on his record and standing in the party. There was a school of thought at the time, which Hasluck as an old-fashioned sort might have subscribed to, that canvassing for votes was vulgar and undignified.

The Result

At 2:30 pm on a warm Canberra afternoon, the 59 Liberal MPs and 22 Liberal Senators met in the Government Party Room. McMahon, as Acting Leader, was in the chair. After speaking about the tragedy of Holt’s death, the chairman quickly moved to the matter at hand.

Only four people nominated, and McMahon was not one of them. Bury, Gorton, Hasluck and Snedden all rose to put their name forward for consideration as leader. A ballot was held, the final numbers of which were secret. Most estimates put Gorton’s vote at around 35, Hasluck’s at 24, Bury’s at 16 and Snedden’s at 6. Because nobody had a majority, Snedden and Bury were eliminated, and a second ballot was held between Gorton and Hasluck.

At 3:14 pm, Erwin announced the winner – Gorton, by a margin of about 20 votes. The business was concluded, and the Liberals prepared to move forward with a new man at the helm.