The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was an Australian breakaway political party of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

that contested the 1943 federal election and the

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in ...

New South Wales state election. Formed in 1943, it was replaced by the New South Wales division of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United A ...

in January 1945.

Divisions in UAP

In 1931

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

resigned from the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

and together with the opposition Nationalist Party, five dissident Labor MPs and three conservative independent MPs formed the

(UAP). This unified the mainstream urban conservative forces in Australia but, in substance, it was largely a continuation of the Nationalists under a new name. The UAP, in coalition with the Country Party was in power federally and in New South Wales throughout much of the thirties. However, ideological and leadership issues resulted in severe fissures occurring within the conservative political forces towards the end of the decade. These tensions resulted in the party deposing both the NSW Premier Bertram Stevens in 1939 and the Prime Minister,

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, in 1941. The party also had difficulty endorsing single candidates in safe seats at the

1941 New South Wales state election The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33rd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single-member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting. ...

Formation of party

Menzies was succeeded as leader of the UAP by

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

, and the party began to disintegrate prior to the 1943 federal election. The Liberal Democratic Party was one of the first of many groups that split from the UAP and its formal launch was at a public meeting in Sydney on 16 April 1943. This meeting was co-chaired by a former Lord Mayor of Sydney, Stanley S. Crick, and the party's founder and President of the Australian-American Co-operation Movement,

Ernest White Sir Ernest Keith White CBE, MC (14 August 1892 – 1 August 1983) was an Australian timber merchant and political activist. He was born at Gosford to timber contractor Robert John White and Bertha, ''née'' Davis. After attending Gosford Pu ...

. White was a wealthy Sydney timber merchant and businessman and it was soon apparent that he was the party's chief benefactor and driving force. Predating Menzies' appeal to The Forgotten People, White said that his party stood for "the little people who have so far been inarticulate". He believed that the two major parties were hampering Australia's effort in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

by promoting class divisions rather than co-operation. The party platform included equal education opportunities for all, full-time permanent employment for all men, reduced taxation, tough action against striking unions and the gradual abolition of tariffs and industry subsidies.

Prominent party members

White's party attracted a number of young conservative activists who would later be prominent in Australian public life or have political careers in the Liberal Party. They included

Bill Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (8 September 1907 – 15 June 2003), usually known as Bill Wentworth and sometimes referred to by others as William Charles Wentworth IV, was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party for most of ...

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. Early years Thomas was the ...

(a former member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for the seat of Bondi),

Roden Cutler Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, (24 May 1916 – 21 February 2002) was an Australian diplomat, the longest serving Governor of New South Wales and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can ...

Brice Mutton Brice Mutton (8 January 1890 – 7 December 1949) was an Australian politician and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for nine months in 1949. He was a member of the Liberal Party. Early life Mutton was born in Lerryn, Corn ...

and

Eileen Furley Mabel Eileen Furley (; 13 March 1900 – 20 September 1985) was the first woman to represent the Liberal Party in the New South Wales Legislative Council. The only child of accountant Frederick John Griffith Llewelyn and Alice, ''née'' Th ...

, the first conservative female member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in t ...

. However, White's over-bearing manner and his insistence that the party have a

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

platform soon caused many of its members to leave. The party gained significant publicity prior to the 1943 federal election, particularly through a weekly broadcast by White over Radio Station

2CH ''2CH'' was a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia. It was owned by Pacific Star Network. The station changed formats on 10 June 2022 to sports. History 2CH commenced broadcasting on 15 February 1932 on 1210 kHz. It moved to ...

Election results

The party stood a number of candidates in New South Wales electorates at the 1943 federal election. However, with the exception of Brigadier

Denzil Macarthur-Onslow Major General Sir Denzil Macarthur-Onslow, (5 March 1904 – 30 November 1984) was an Australian Army officer, businessman and grazier. Biography Macarthur-Onslow, the son of grazier Arthur Macarthur-Onslow, enlisted in the Citizens Military ...

, who gained 21% of the primary vote to come second in Eden-Monaro, and Wing Commander Nigel Love, who polled 19% in Parkes, the party performed poorly. The UAP's results at the election were also poor: its national primary vote was reduced by 8% and it lost nine of its 23 seats from the 1940 election. After the election, the LDP, the New South Wales

(UAP) and the Commonwealth Party began discussions on a merger to form a new party, proposed to be also named Liberal Democratic Party. By November 1943, discussions were almost completed and unity was likely. The Country Party declined to join the merger but expressed they would co-operate with the new party. However, during the unity conference on 24 November 1943, the LDP walked out of the conference as they were not willing to support retaining the secretary of the UAP, H. W. Horsfield, as the secretary of the new party, as well as retaining members of his staff. Instead, during the same conference, the Commonwealth Party and the New South Wales UAP proceeded to merge without the LDP to form the Democratic Party. As such, LDP remained a separate party to the Democratic Party. In the lead-up to the 1944 state elections, the LDP party generated publicity disproportionate to its size and the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' commented that the Liberal Democratic Party was "a mouse" attempting to "swallow the Democratic Party lion". The results of the election, in which the party received less than 4% of the primary vote and did not win a seat, confirmed that it was of minor political importance.

Joining the Liberal Party

Horsfield, the secretary of the Democratic Party, resigned on 26 July 1944, paving the way for a LDP-Democratic merger again. In August 1944, the LDP initially agreed to merge with the Democratic Party and the new party to be known as the United Democratic Party. However, two days after federal UAP leader

announced that he was planning to set up a new "political movement with a Liberal policy" at an October conference, negotiations between LDP and Democratic Party broke down and the party merger did not take place. With the formation of the

by Menzies, on 16 January 1945, the LDP was dissolved and replaced by the Liberal Party's New South Wales division. White remained a disruptive element within the Liberal Party and contested the seat of Warringah against the party's endorsed candidate at the 1954 federal election. In his old age, White would claim that he, rather than Menzies, had been the founder of the Liberal Party.

References