1932 East Sydney by-election

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of East Sydney on 6 February 1932. This was triggered by the death of United Australia Party MP John Clasby, who had been elected at the 1931 election and never taken his seat in Parliament.

1932 East Sydney by-election

6 February 1932

First party Second party   Candidate Eddie Ward William McCall Party Labor (NSW) United Australia Popular vote 17,461 16,304 Percentage 47.0% 43.9% Swing 4.6pp 0.3pp TPP 50.2% 49.8% TPP swing 1.9pp 1.9pp

MP before election John Clasby United Australia Elected MP Eddie Ward Labor (NSW)

The by-election was won by New South Wales Labor candidate Eddie Ward, who had previously won the seat in a by-election the previous year but lost it to Clasby at the federal election. The Labor Party had split in New South Wales with Ward adhering to the group headed by Jack Lang, the Premier of New South Wales.

Results

East Sydney by-election, 1932

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor (NSW)	Eddie Ward	17,461	47.0	4.6
	United Australia	William McCall	16,304	43.9	−0.3
	Labor	Lou Cunningham	2,817	7.6	−5.7
	Communist	Jack Miles	597	1.6	1.6
Total formal votes			37,179	97.3
Informal votes			1,018	2.7
Turnout			38,197	85.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor (NSW)	Eddie Ward	18,676	50.2	1.9
	United Australia	William McCall	18,503	49.8	−1.9
	Labor (NSW) gain from United Australia		Swing	1.9