Australia’s center-left Labor Party won a landslide victory in the nation’s election on May 3. Though most polls predicted a close race or even a hung Parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s party comfortably defeated the conservative Liberal-National Coalition led by Peter Dutton. Labor’s victory mirrored growing anti-conservative sentiments in Canada—but diverged significantly from Britain’s recent dramatic shift right in local council elections. Even as other European and Asian powers fuse into new alliances, these three historic allies are becoming more politically alienated.
Labor had been in “all sorts of trouble” at the end of 2024, Labor Treasurer Jim Chalmers told abc. The party and Albanese personally were polling historically low. As it turned out, those projections were upended. The party’s dramatic comeback made “a win for the ages.”
Seventy-six seats are needed to hold a majority in Australia’s Parliament. Labor improved on the narrow 77-seat majority it had won in the 2022 general election, securing 94 seats as of May 21, the most seats in the party’s history. The Liberal-National Coalition lost 15 seats, reducing its hold to 43. Not only were the conservatives thoroughly defeated, but Dutton himself lost his own seat to Ali France, a Labor member of Parliament—a rare occurrence for an opposition leader. And Albanese became Australia’s first prime minister in two decades to win a second consecutive three-year term.
Why such a dramatic reversal of public opinion in such a short time?
Liberal Party spokesman James Paterson attributed this shift largely to “the Trump factor.” He says anti-Trump sentiments hurt the Coalition’s campaign. Dutton had campaigned on controversial immigration policies, public sector cuts and improving government efficiency—reflecting President Donald Trump’s policies in the United States. Voters viewed Dutton and his party as an extension of the perceived threat of Trump’s tariffs and his maga politics.
Australian voters were already facing serious concerns about the cost of living and challenges in health care and housing, so they wanted to avoid additional financial burdens. Evidently, the majority of Australians see Labor as the party that will deliver them from these economic issues and stand up to President Trump.
On the other side of the world, British and Canadian voters faced many of the same pressing concerns. However, while Australians and Canadians strengthened their anti-conservative stance, Britons shifted pro-conservative. The same week as Australia’s general election, British voters in local elections gave an overwhelming victory to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
Despite their common imperial history, language, legal system and government under the British monarchy, Canada, Britain and Australia all experienced remarkably divergent results in their recent elections. Even as domineering powers rise on the world scene, especially in Europe and Asia, these historic brothers are moving apart.