It was led by public health administrator Raphael Cilento.
[4] The party endorsed Cilento as its lead candidate in Queensland.
[5][6] Not long after the Senate election, which saw the Democratic ticket fail to win a seat, the parties split.
[7] At the 1954 federal election, Cilento ran as the IDP's candidate in the division of McPherson, held by Country Party leader Arthur Fadden.
[8][9] The party pledged to "restore representative government" in Australia, with Cilento criticising the two-party-system and stating that "uncontrolled competition between parties, and machine politics generally, can only lead to totalitarianism".