Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC (31 December 1926 – 27 June 1987) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975.

He served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, and then studied law at the University of Western Australia.

Malcolm Fraser mounted two leadership challenges in early 1975, winning on the second attempt; by the end of the year he was prime minister.

[3] Snedden grew up in Perth's inner north near the suburb of Highgate, living initially on Robinson Avenue and later on Bulwer Street.

[4] His oldest brother Bob became the family's main breadwinner, while his mother worked as a laundress and his other siblings also found jobs.

[9] Snedden left school in April 1942 and began working as a junior law clerk for Thomas Hughes, who was a solicitor and independent state MP.

[10] He was a talented sportsman as a youth, and played a few games for the West Perth Football Club during the 1944 WANFL season, at a time when the competition was age-restricted.

He began an air crew training scheme, but as the war came to an end he was taken off the course and given more general duties; this included a period tending bar at an officers' mess.

In combination with his earlier clerking experience, this allowed him to secure a place at the University of Western Australia's law school in 1946.

Snedden failed two subjects in his first year, and was only able to continue when the law school dean Frank Beasley intervened on his behalf.

He resigned from the public service due to a pay cut, and began working for Angus & Coote as a hearing aid salesman.

[18] As a student, he made three unsuccessful attempts to enter politics, standing for the Liberal Party at the 1948 Boulder state by-election and at the 1949 and 1951 federal elections (in Fremantle and Perth, respectively).

[19] In 1954 Snedden moved to Melbourne, where he practised law until 1955, when he was elected to the House of Representatives for the outer suburban seat of Bruce.

[20] Snedden's narrow win was critical in the outcome of what was the closest election in Australian history up till that time.

However, with Snedden's win, the best Labor could hope for was a hung parliament, though the Coalition was not assured of another term in government until later in the night, with its narrow victory in Moreton.

On 7 April 1965, the Menzies Cabinet decided that it would seek to repeal Section 127 of the Constitution, which excluded indigenous people from the population count, but made no firm plans or timetable for such action.

[22][23] In 1971, Snedden was appointed Treasurer by William McMahon, and was elected Liberal Deputy Leader, making him the heir apparent to the leadership.

When McMahon was defeated by the Labor Party under Gough Whitlam in 1972, Snedden was elected as his replacement as Liberal leader, winning by a single vote over Nigel Bowen on the fifth ballot.

[24] After the election the conservative wing of the Liberal Party, led by Malcolm Fraser, challenged Snedden's leadership, but he was narrowly re-elected.

When he failed to make any headway against Whitlam, Fraser mounted a second challenge, and Snedden was deposed in March 1975, becoming the first leader of the Liberal Party not to gain the prime ministership.

[33] One of his most memorable actions as Speaker occurred in February 1982, when a Labor frontbencher, Bob Hawke, referred to then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, as a "liar" during question time.

Snedden later wrote: "It was his [Fraser's] instigation which was making the Parliament unworkable, not the Opposition's response, like the classroom situation where the smart little man hits the fellow next to him who retaliates and is seen by the teacher".

[36] With the defeat of the Fraser government in 1983 and the election of Dr Harry Jenkins Sr. as Speaker, Snedden resigned from Parliament on 21 April 1983.

He separated from his wife, Lady Snedden, and was later to withdraw from public life as his health declined from atherosclerosis and heart disease.

[19] On 27 June 1987, just hours after attending John Howard's election campaign launch, Snedden suffered a fatal heart attack at the Travelodge motel in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, while having sex with an ex-girlfriend of his son Drew, identified only as "Wendy".