1935 Newcastle by-election

1 June 1935

	First party	Second party
		LAB
Candidate	David Watkins	James Smith
Party	Labor	Labor (NSW)
Popular vote	25,374	22,135
Percentage	49.0%	42.7%
Swing	8.2pp	8.2pp
TPP	53.8%	46.2%
TPP swing	4.3pp	4.3pp

MP before election

David Watkins
Labor

Elected MP

David Watkins
Labor

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Newcastle on 1 June 1935. This was triggered by the death of long-serving Labor MP David Watkins. Following Watkins' death, only Billy Hughes and Senator George Pearce remained of those elected at the first federal election in 1901.

The by-election was won by Watkins' son, David Oliver Watkins. As Newcastle was the only remaining New South Wales seat held by the federal Labor Party, the by-election was closely fought with the breakaway New South Wales Labor Party, supporters of the controversial former premier Jack Lang.

Results

1935 Newcastle by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	David Watkins	25,374	49.0	−8.2
	Labor (NSW)	James Smith	22,135	42.7	+8.2
	Social Credit	Hilton Sykes	4,302	8.3	+8.3
Total formal votes			51,811	98.3
Informal votes			908	1.7
Turnout			52,719	93.7
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	David Watkins	27,867	53.8	−4.3
	Labor (NSW)	James Smith	23,944	46.2	+4.3
	Labor hold		Swing	−4.3

References

"By-Elections 1934-1937". Psephos Adam Carr's Election Archive. Retrieved 15 June 2022.

v t e By-elections of the 14th Parliament of Australia (1934–1937)
1935	Newcastle Fawkner
1936	Kennedy Darling Downs
1937	Gwydir
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