electionstracker

Australia 1940 federal election

What was the result of the 1940 federal election in Australia?

Australian Labor Party won 32 of 75 seats with 40.1% of the vote. 94.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Australia
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Australian Labor Party won 32 of 75 seats with 40.1% of the vote; 94.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Australian Labor Party 32 40.1%
  • United Australia Party 23 30.2%
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 10 11.1%
  • Lang Labor 4 5.2%
  • State Labor Party 0 2.6%
  • Liberal Country Party (Vic) 2 1.3%
  • Seats won
  • Share of the vote
38 of 75 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 40.1%

    Share of the vote won by Australian Labor Party

    Australian Labor Party won 32 of 75 seats. A majority needs 38.

  2. 94.9%

    Voter turnout

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats%Votes
Australian Labor Party3240.11,556,941
United Australia Party2330.21,171,788
National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia1011.1429,692
Independents38.7337,038
Lang Labor45.2202,721
State Labor Party02.6101,191
Liberal Country Party (Vic)21.351,223
Unnamed party with one seat10.830,567
Votes by party
  • Australian Labor Party 1,556,941
  • United Australia Party 1,171,788
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 429,692
  • Independents 337,038
  • Lang Labor 202,721
  • State Labor Party 101,191
  • Liberal Country Party (Vic) 51,223
  • Unnamed party with one seat 30,567

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

ParlGov marks results before 1945 as experimental: they may need revision, so we compare them with no other election.

How many people voted?

94.9% of the 4,196,446 registered voters cast a ballot (3,983,272 ballots). 3,881,161 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Australian Labor Party40.1% of votes42.7% of seats
  • United Australia Party30.2% of votes30.7% of seats
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia11.1% of votes13.3% of seats
  • Lang Labor5.2% of votes5.3% of seats
  • Liberal Country Party (Vic)1.3% of votes2.7% of seats
  • State Labor Party2.6% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 4.6 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.6 by votes and 3.3 by seats; Australian Labor Party led United Australia Party by 9.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of