Howard loses seat in Australian parliament

Australia’s second-longest serving prime minister John Howard officially lost his Sydney seat today following his government’s defeat at elections last month.

Mr Howard said on the night of the November 24 elections that he had almost certainly lost the seat of Bennelong, which he had held for 33 years.

The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed today that he had become only the second sitting prime minister to lose his seat in the 106 years that Australia has had a federal parliament.

The commission announced after final counting that former journalist Maxine McKew, a candidate of the centre-left Labour Party, which won the majority of seats in last month’s election and now controls the government, had won the seat by more than 2,000 votes.

A cheerful Mr Howard personally congratulated Ms McKew.

He said in a brief concession speech: “The character of the Bennelong electorate has changed a lot in that 33 years. The quality of the people has remained constant.”

Ms McKew said Mr Howard’s 11 years as prime minister was a far greater achievement than hers.

The seat was held by Mr Howard’s centre-right Liberal Party by a safe margin when he entered parliament in 1974.