| Election Name: | May 1977 Australian Labor Party Leadership spill |
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | presidential |
| Vote Type: | Caucus |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1976 Australian Labor Party leadership spill |
| Previous Year: | 1976 |
| Next Election: | December 1977 Australian Labor Party leadership election |
| Next Year: | December 1977 |
| Election Date: | 31 May 1977 |
| Candidate1: | Gough Whitlam |
| Colour1: | DC241F |
| Popular Vote1: | 32 (51.6%) |
| Candidate2: | Bill Hayden |
| Colour2: | DC241F |
| Popular Vote2: | 30 (48.4%) |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Gough Whitlam |
| After Election: | Gough Whitlam |
A leadership spill of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), then the opposition party in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 31 May 1977. Former Treasurer Bill Hayden unsuccessfully challenged Labor leader Gough Whitlam. Whitlam was narrowly re-elected by 32 votes to 30 (the smallest possible majority) leading him to later refer to many in his caucus as 'out of touch'.[1]
After his party's heavy defeat at the 1975 election Gough Whitlam was comfortably re-elected leader of the ALP. However over the following year his support began to fall away and many MPs lobbied his former Treasurer Bill Hayden to stand against him. In March 1977 Hayden announced his candidacy.[2] [3] [4]
| Election Name: | Australian Labor Party Deputy Leadership spill, May 1977 |
| Flag Image: | Australian-Labor-Party-stub.svg |
| Type: | presidential |
| Vote Type: | Caucus |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1976 Australian Labor Party leadership spill |
| Previous Year: | 1976 |
| Next Election: | December 1977 Australian Labor Party leadership election |
| Next Year: | December 1977 |
| 1Blank: | First ballot |
| Candidate1: | Tom Uren |
| Colour1: | DC241F |
| 1Data1: | 28 (45.2%) |
| 2Data1: | 34 (54.8%) |
| Candidate2: | Paul Keating |
| Colour2: | DC241F |
| 1Data2: | 22 (35.5%) |
| 2Data2: | 28 (45.3%) |
| Candidate3: | Chris Hurford |
| Colour3: | DC241F |
| 1Data3: | 12 (19.4%) |
| 2Data3: | Eliminated |
| Deputy Leader | |
| Pretitle: | Deputy Leader before election |
| Posttitle: | Deputy Leader after election |
| Before Election: | Tom Uren |
| After Election: | Tom Uren |
The following tables gives the ballot results:[6]
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Uren | 28 | 34 | ||
| Paul Keating | 22 | 28 | ||
| Chris Hurford | 12 | |||
Despite surviving the vote the ALP only gained a handful of seats at the 1977 election, which prompted Whitlam to resign as leader with Hayden elected as his replacement.