It was triggered by the forced resignation of Labor MLA Joshua Arthur,[1] after a Royal Commission found his dealings with Reginald Doyle were improper.
On 9 February 1953, William Wentworth, a NSW member of federal parliament, aired allegations concerning Arthur's associations with Reginald Doyle, a Newcastle-based conman who was wanted on fraud charges.
[4] Arthur voluntarily stood down as a minister while declaring he would fight to clear his name, and the state government set up a Royal Commission into the allegations,[5] to be conducted by Judge George Amsberg of the District Court.
The matter of his continued membership of the Labor was initially undecided, but when it became clear that the state executive would not support him, Arthur announced that he would resign from the party and not contest the by-election.
Tom Armstrong, a Newcastle councillor, former mayor, and prominent union official, contested the seat as an independent Labor candidate.