Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (1929–1932) Ministries Elections
Amidst intense disagreement between economically conservative and radical elements of the party, two senior ministers in the Scullin Labor government, Joseph Lyons and James Fenton, resigned from Cabinet in January 1931.
Lyons, Fenton and their supporters would subsequently merge with the conservative opposition Nationalist Party to form the new United Australia Party (UAP), led by Lyons with the last Nationalist leader, John Latham, as his deputy.
[1] In March 1931, the Labor Party split on the left as well, when Eddie Ward - a supporter of radical anti-austerity New South Wales Premier Jack Lang - won a by-election, and was refused entry to the Labor caucus.
In November, Lang Labor supported a UAP no-confidence motion, bringing the Scullin government down and forcing an election in December 1931.