Frank Tudor | |
|---|---|
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| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 17 February 1917 – 10 January 1922 | |
| Prime Minister | Billy Hughes |
| Deputy | Albert Gardiner |
| Preceded by | Joseph Cook |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Charlton |
| Leader of the Labor Party | |
| In office 14 November 1916 – 10 January 1922 | |
| Deputy | Albert Gardiner |
| Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
| Succeeded by | Matthew Charlton |
| Minister for Trade and Customs | |
| In office 17 September 1914 – 14 September 1916 | |
| Prime Minister | Andrew Fisher Billy Hughes |
| Preceded by | Littleton Groom |
| Succeeded by | Billy Hughes (acting) |
| In office 29 April 1910 – 24 June 1913 | |
| Prime Minister | Andrew Fisher |
| Preceded by | Robert Best |
| Succeeded by | Littleton Groom |
| In office 13 November 1908 – 2 June 1909 | |
| Prime Minister | Andrew Fisher |
| Preceded by | Austin Chapman |
| Succeeded by | Robert Best |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forYarra | |
| In office 30 March 1901 – 10 January 1922 | |
| Preceded by | Seat created |
| Succeeded by | James Scullin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1866-01-29)29 January 1866 |
| Died | 10 January 1922 (aged 55) Richmond, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 6 |
| Education | Richmond Central State School |
| Signature |  |
Francis Gwynne Tudor (29 January 1866 – 10 January 1922) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of theAustralian Labor Party from 1916 until his death. He had previously been a government minister underAndrew Fisher andBilly Hughes.
Tudor was born inMelbourne to Welsh immigrant parents. He left school at a young age to enter the workforce, serving an apprenticeship in thefelt hat industry and later studying his trade for periods in England and the United States. He became involved in trade unionism in England, and after returning to Australia served as president of the Felt Hatters' Union. Tudor was elected president of theVictorian Trades Hall Council in 1900. The following year, he was elected to the newfederal parliament as a representative of the Labor Party. He was chosen as the parliamentary party's firstwhip, and held that position until entering cabinet in 1908.
Tudor served asMinister for Trade and Customs from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913, and 1914 to 1916, in the governments of Andrew Fisher and Billy Hughes. He remained loyal to the Labor Party duringthe split over conscription in 1916, and was elected party leader after Hughes' expulsion. He replacedJoseph Cook asleader of the opposition upon the formation of thethird Hughes Ministry in February 1917. Tudor led Labor to the1917 and1919 federal elections, on both occasions suffering heavy defeats. His death in office at the age of 55 came after a long period of ill health. He was the first leader of a major Australian political party to die in office, and was accorded astate funeral.
Tudor was born to John Llewellyn Tudor, a ballastman, and Ellen Charlotte Tudor, née Burt, both ofWelsh origin, on 29 January 1866 atWilliamstown, Victoria. However, the family soon moved to the Melbourne suburb ofRichmond, where Tudor lived most of his life.[1]
Upon leaving Richmond Central State School, and after short spells in asawmill and aboot factory, Tudor entered the felthat industry. Tudor apprenticed inAbbotsford and then travelled across Victoria in the hat trade. Tudor went to England, working in London,Birmingham,Liverpool andManchester, marrying Alice Smale inDenton, Lancashire in 1894. Smale died the same year, but Tudor continued in the felt hat trade by moving to London and becoming vice-president of the local branch of the Felt Hatters' Union. In 1897 Tudor remarried to Fanny Jane Mead.[1]
As vice-president of the union Tudor became interested in union politics (as manyLabor politicians were before their entry into politics) and persuaded the British unions to adopt theunion label principle. Returning to Australia, Tudor worked atAbbotsford's mills and took a seat in theVictorian Trades Hall Council. In 1900 he became president.[1]
Tudor was president of theVictorian Life Saving Society, and held aBronze Medallion as a qualified life saver.[2] He had a long association with theRichmond Football Club, and served as club president from 1909 to 1918.[3][4]
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A prominent figure inRichmond, Victoria, Tudor turned theDivision of Yarra into the safest Labor seat in the country by winning that seat by a large margin in the1901 federal election. Tudor was a deacon of the Congregational Church and angered some Protestants with his calls forHome Rule forIreland.[1]
Tudor was immediately elected the Labor Party'swhip and assistant secretary, before ascending to the position of secretary in 1904. Under the leadership ofAndrew Fisher, he wasMinister for Trade and Customs during the threeFisher ministries, from 1908 to 1909, 1910–1913, and 1914–1915.[5] According to theAustralian Dictionary of Biography, he was an "efficient administrator, with an eye for detail" who "made friends and earned respect on both sides of the House, and was considered to be the most moderate of the Victorian Labor members".[1]
Billy Hughes replaced Fisher as prime minister in 1915. Tudor maintained his position in the ministry, and initially remained neutral during the debate within the ALP over overseas conscription, which Hughes supported. After pressure from his local political labour council in Richmond, he eventually came out against conscription and resigned from the ministry in September 1916.[1] Tudor became a leader of the "No" campaign during the1916 conscription referendum, alongsideT. J. Ryan andWilliam Higgs.[6] On 14 November, the ALPsplit irrevocably over the issue. Hughes led his supporters out of a caucus meeting and formed a newNational Labor Party, allowing him to stay on as prime minister with the aid of theLiberals. On 15 November Tudor was elected unopposed as the new leader of the Labor Party in his place[7] – the party's first Australian-born leader. According to historianDenis Murphy, he was likely elected to the leadership simply because he was the first member of cabinet to resign over the issue.[8] Tudor did not succeed Liberal leaderJoseph Cook asLeader of the Opposition until 17 February 1917, when theThird Hughes Ministry was sworn in with Hughes as leader of the compositeNationalist Party.[1]
Tudor led his party to a landslide defeat at the1917 federal election. The ALP won just 22 seats out of 75, and the party was severely weakened by several of its senior figures following Hughes out of the party. Tudor was a leader of the successful "No" campaign at the1917 conscription referendum. He was not regarded as a good public speaker, and his speeches were often seen as dull or confusing.[9]
While Tudor was respected within the ALP for his loyalty, he was often overshadowed byT. J. Ryan, the charismatic premier of Queensland. Ryan was the only remaining ALP premier in the country, and frequently campaigned outside his own state.[10] In May 1918, Tudor had to officially deny a report inThe Age that he would step aside in favour of Ryan prior to the next federal election.[11] There was also some speculation that Fisher – who had been appointedHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom – would return and resume the leadership. In May 1919, their former cabinet colleagueKing O'Malley wrote to Fisher in London that "many people are of the opinion that Labor will not win the next election under Tudor's leadership".[12]
In October 1919, theALP Federal Conference passed a resolution inviting Ryan to enter federal politics and appointed him as national campaign director. Tudor was "unconsciously insulted" by a number of delegates, who effectively declared that he could not lead Labor to an election victory.[13] His leadership was defended by his supporters in the Victorian delegation, who threatened a walkout, and also by those who viewed the resolution as usurping the role of the party caucus in choosing their leader.[14]
At theelection later that year, Tudor led the ALP to a second heavy election loss – 26 seats out of 75. He was twice taken ill during the campaign with "attacks of hemorrhage".[15] Tudor was increasingly seen as an ineffectual leader, and several elements were contemplating replacing him with Ryan. However, Ryan's early death in 1921 prevented him from taking Tudor's place. Tudor's own health became markedly worse during 1921, and he was increasingly unable to carry out his duties.[1] In September 1921, the party electedMatthew Charlton as assistant leader in the House of Representatives.[16]
Tudor died on 10 January 1922 at his home in Richmond, aged 55. His death was attributed to heart disease.[1] He was the first leader of the Labor Party to die in office, and the first Opposition Leader never to become prime minister. He was succeeded as the member for Yarra by future Prime MinisterJames Scullin. Tudor was the first of five consecutive Opposition Leaders who was not a former prime minister.
Tudor's estate was valued at £4,629 (equivalent to $431,000 in 2022), around half of which was real estate. His widow went bankrupt within the year, after her brother's firm (in which she had invested most of her money) went broke.[17]
Kim Edward Beazley, who wrote a series of articles on ALP leaders forThe Canberra Times in 1966, wrote of Tudor that he "held the Labor movement together in the face of massive forces of disintegration, and he did it by his dignity and utter absence of bitterness, hate or rancour".[18]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition 1917–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Trade and Customs 1908–1909 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Trade and Customs 1910–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Trade and Customs 1914–1916 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theAustralian Labor Party 1916–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| New division | Member forYarra 1901–1922 | Succeeded by |
