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The Honourable Sir Stanley Argyle KBE, MRCS, LRCP
Argyle in 1935
32ndPremier of Victoria
In office 19 May 1932 – 2 April 1935
Monarch	George V
Governor	The Lord Somers The Lord Huntingfield
Deputy	Robert Menzies Ian Macfarlan Wilfrid Kent Hughes
Preceded by	Edmond Hogan
Succeeded by	Albert Dunstan
Treasurer of Victoria
In office 19 May 1932 – 2 April 1935
Preceded by	Edmond Hogan
Succeeded by	Albert Dunstan
7thLeader of the Opposition in Victoria
In office 2 April 1935 – 23 November 1940
Premier	Albert Dunstan
Deputy	Ian Macfarlan Wilfrid Kent Hughes
Preceded by	Thomas Tunnecliffe
Succeeded by	Thomas Hollway
In office 3 September 1930 – 19 May 1932
Premier	Edmond Hogan
Deputy	Ian Macfarlan
Preceded by	William McPherson
Succeeded by	Thomas Tunnecliffe
Party positions Leader of the United Australia Party in Victoria In office 15 September 1931 – 23 November 1940 Deputy Ian Macfarlan Robert Menzies Ian Macfarlan Wilfrid Kent Hughes Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Thomas Hollway Leader of the Nationalist Party in Victoria In office 3 September 1930 – 15 September 1931 Deputy Ian Macfarlan Preceded by William McPherson Succeeded by Position abolished Deputy Leader of the Nationalist Party in Victoria In office 5 September 1928 – 3 September 1930 Leader William McPherson Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Ian Macfarlan
Cabinet posts Chief Secretary of Victoria In office 22 November 1928 – 12 December 1929 Premier William McPherson Preceded by G. M. Prendergast Succeeded by Thomas Tunnecliffe In office 18 November 1924 – 20 May 1927 Premier John Allan Preceded by Thomas Tunnecliffe Succeeded by G. M. Prendergast In office 7 September 1923 – 18 July 1924 Premier Harry Lawson Preceded by Matthew Baird Succeeded by Thomas Tunnecliffe Minister of Public Health In office 22 November 1928 – 12 December 1929 Premier William McPherson Preceded by W. J. Beckett Succeeded by W. J. Beckett In office 18 November 1924 – 20 May 1927 Premier John Allan Preceded by John Percy Jones Succeeded by W. J. Beckett In office 7 September 1923 – 18 July 1924 Premier Harry Lawson Alexander Peacock Preceded by Matthew Baird Succeeded by John Percy Jones
Electorate Member of theVictorian Legislative Assembly forToorak In office 1 October 1920 – 1 November 1940 Preceded by Norman Bayles Succeeded by Harold Thonemann
Personal details
Born	Stanley Seymour Argyle 4 December 1867 Kyneton,Colony of Victoria
Died	23 November 1940(1940-11-23) (aged 72) Toorak,Victoria, Australia
Citizenship	British
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Nationalist(until 1931) United Australia(from 1931)
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Spouse	Violet Ellen Jessie Lewis ​ ​ (m. 1895; died 1940)​
Children	4
Relatives	Michael (cousin)
Residence(s)	Toorak, Victoria, Australia[a]
Education	Kyneton School Hawthorn Grammar School Brighton Grammar School
Alma mater	Trinity College, Melbourne King's College London
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	1914–1917
Rank	Lieutenant colonel
Unit	Australian Imperial Force  • Army Medical Corps
Battles/wars	World War I

Sir Stanley Seymour ArgyleKBE,MRCS,LRCP (4 December 1867 – 23 November 1940), was an Australian radiologist and politician. He served aspremier of Victoria from 1932 to 1935 and was the state leader of theNationalist Party andUnited Australia Party from 1930 until his death in 1940.

Argyle was born inKyneton,Colony of Victoria^[1] in 1867 to Edward Argyle, a grazier fromEngland, and Mary Clark.^[2] He was educated at theKyneton School,Hawthorn Grammar School, andBrighton Grammar School before attendingTrinity College at theUniversity of Melbourne, where he graduated in medicine. He went on to study bacteriology atKing's College London.^[3]

After further study in the United Kingdom, he went into general practice inKew and was later a pioneer ofradiology in Australia. He was a member of the Kew City Council from 1898 to 1905 and was mayor from in 1903 to 1905. DuringWorld War I, he was consultant radiologist to theAustralian Imperial Force in Egypt, France and England. He returned to Australia in 1917 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and resumed his medical practice at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He invested in the pasteurization of milk and citrus growing.^[4]

In 1920, Argyle was elected to theVictorian Legislative Assembly for the seat ofToorak as an independentNationalist. Between 1923 and 1928, he was Chief Secretary andMinister for Health in the ministries ofHarry Lawson,John Allan,Alexander Peacock andWilliam McPherson. When McPherson resigned as leader of the Nationalist Party, Argyle was chosen to succeed him and, in 1931, the party was renamed theUnited Australia Party (UAP). He led the opposition toNed Hogan's minorityLabor Party government, which was unable to cope with the effects of theGreat Depression and was heavily defeated at theMay 1932 elections.

Argyle formed a coalition government with theCountry Party, led by Allan and later byAlbert Dunstan. The government had a huge majority – 45 seats to Labor's 16. Ministers included the rising star of the UAP,Robert Menzies, who became Deputy Premier, Attorney-General and Minister for Railways. Argyle, a firm fiscal conservative, held to the orthodox view that in a time of depression government spending must be cut so that the budget remained in balance. This soon brought him into conflict with both the trade unions and the farmers, but at the time there seemed to be no alternative policy. Argyle was lucky in that the economy began to improve from 1932, and the unemployment rate fell from 27 percent in 1932 to 20 percent in 1934 and 14 percent in 1935. That led a reduction in unemployment relief payments and an increase in taxation revenue, easing the state's financial crisis.

Argyle fought theMarch 1935 election with an improving economy and a record of sound, if unimaginative, management. With the Labor Party opposition still divided and demoralized, he was rewarded with another very comfortable majority for his coalition government. However, at that point he was unexpectedly betrayed by his Country Party allies. The Country Party leader, Albert Dunstan, was a close friend of the gambling bossJohn Wren, who was also very close to the Labor leaderTom Tunnecliffe (in the view of most historians, Tunnecliffe was, in fact, under Wren's control^{[citation needed]}). Wren, aided by the Victorian Labor Party President,Arthur Calwell, persuaded Dunstan to break off the coalition with Argyle and form a minority Country Party government, which Labor would support in return for some policy concessions. Dunstan agreed to the deal and, in April 1935, he moved a successful no confidence vote in the government from which he had just resigned.

The UAP (and later its successor theLiberal Party) never forgave the Country Party for that treachery.Henry Bolte, later Victoria's longest-serving Premier, was 27 in 1935, and Dunstan's betrayal of Argyle lay behind his lifelong intense dislike of the Country Party, whom he called "political prostitutes".^{[citation needed]} Argyle remained in politics as Leader of the Opposition until his death in 1940.

Argyle married Violet Ellen Jessie Lewis of "Spring Grove", Cotham Road, Kew at Holy Trinity Church, Kew on 24 January 1895.^[5] They had two sons and two daughters;^[6] the first of their children, Inez,^[7] was born on 2 November 1895.^[8] The next, Bessie Abbott,^[9] was born on 26 March 1897.^[10] Their elder son, Thomas Milner Stanley, was born on 11 October 1899;^[11] the younger, Hector Stanley, was born on 2 October 1901.^[12] The Argyles lived at Kew until 1919 when they purchased a property, "Halstead", at 29 Bruce Street,Toorak.^[13] In 1933, that house was demolished and a new one built to the design of architectMarcus Martin.^[14] After the death of her husband, Lady Argyle moved to Perth to be near her son Tom and his family. She died in Perth in 1963 at the age of 94. By that time, three of her four children were living in Perth.

Stanley Argyle was a cousin of the British judgeMichael Argyle.^[15]

• Geoff Browne,A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900–84, Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985
• Don Garden,Victoria: A History, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984
• Kate White,John Cain and Victorian Labour 1917–1957, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1982
• Raymond Wright,A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856–1990, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992

• 1867 births
• 1940 deaths
• People educated at Brighton Grammar School
• People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
• Melbourne Medical School alumni
• Alumni of King's College London
• Premiers of Victoria
• Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria
• Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
• Ministers for health (Victoria)
• Chief secretaries of Victoria
• Treasurers of Victoria
• Australian radiologists
• Medical doctors from Melbourne
• Australian military doctors
• Politicians from Melbourne
• Leaders of the opposition in Victoria (state)
• People from Kyneton
• Royal Australian Army Medical Corps officers
• Australian military personnel of World War I
• Military personnel from Victoria (state)

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