2005 Werriwa by-election

The 2005 Werriwa by-election was held on 19 March 2005 to elect the member for Werriwa in the Australian House of Representatives, following the resignation of Labor Party MP Mark Latham.

Latham had represented Werriwa since 1994 and served as the opposition leader from December 2003, leading Labor to defeat at the 2004 federal election. He had become increasingly dissatisfied with politics and was struggling with recurring pancreatitis. He announced his resignation from parliament on 18 January 2005.

The governing Liberal and National Coalition chose not to contest the by-election, as Werriwa had long been considered a safe Labor seat; Labor has held it for all but nine years since 1906. Nevertheless, the by-election received substantial public attention, due to both the surprise nature of Latham's resignation and a brutal Labor preselection battle between two potential candidates. This resulted in the drafting of a compromise candidate, industrial mediator Chris Hayes. Labor increased their margin with 55.4 percent of the primary vote and 70.1 percent of the two-candidate-preferred vote. All of the 15 remaining candidates received a primary vote of less than 10 percent.