Archdale Parkhill

Sir Robert Archdale "Archie" Parkhill KCMG (27 August 1878 – 2 October 1947) was an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1927 to 1937.

His most successful campaign was for the 1925 Federal election, when he combined fear of Bolshevism, with which the opposition Labor Party was sometimes associated, with traditional Australian aspirations of home ownership.

In another role, as secretary of the New South Wales Consultative Council from 1919 to 1929, he organised fund-raising for the ANF's Victorian equivalent, the National Union.

He was instrumental in reviving Nationalist morale, which was partly responsible for the implosion of Labor Prime Minister James Scullin's government.

He was defeated by Robert Menzies for the deputy leadership of the United Australia Party in December 1935, but was nevertheless the leader of the Australian delegation to King George VI's coronation in 1937.

However, he was defeated in the 1937 election by "independent UAP" candidate Percy Spender on preferences, and, shocked, refused to shake hands after the poll.

Parkhill joined a number of company boards after his electoral defeat and considered re-contesting Warringah, but the success of Spender destroyed his hopes.

Parkhill sitting at his desk
Parkhill in 1932
Parkhill as Minister for Home Affairs and Transport