Eddie Ward
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The Honourable Eddie Ward |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for East Sydney |
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In office 7 March 1931 – 19 December 1931 |
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| Preceded by | John West |
| Succeeded by | John Clasby |
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In office 6 February 1932 – 31 July 1963 |
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| Preceded by | John Clasby |
| Succeeded by | Len Devine |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 March 1899 Darlington, New South Wales |
| Died | 31 July 1963 (aged 64) Darlinghurst, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party |
Lang Labor (1931–36) Labor (1936–63) |
| Occupation | Unionist |
Edward John "Eddie" Ward (7 March 1899 – 31 July 1963), Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death.
Born and raised in Darlington, Sydney, Ward spent time variously as a labourer, boilermaker, tarpaulin maker, tramways worker and prize boxer before his political career. Ward was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1931 East Sydney by-election in the midst of the Great Depression and the rise to prominence of Australian Labor Party New South Wales Premier Jack Lang, whose policies for dealing with the depression were considered radically left wing. Ward was a Lang supporter and gained notoriety soon after his election when Prime Minister and ALP leader James Scullin refused to allow Ward into the ALP caucus. In response, Lang and his supporters left the ALP to form the Lang Labor Party and voted with the opposition on a no-confidence motion to bring down the Scullin government.
Ward lost his seat later that year to the UAP at the federal election as the Labor vote was split between Ward and the official ALP candidate. As luck would have it, the sudden death of the newly elected East Sydney MP John Clasby before he even took his seat in parliament led to the 1932 East Sydney by-election, which Ward, again standing as a Lang Labor candidate, won.
Ward remained in Lang Labor until 1936, when he returned to the ALP. Nevertheless, he would continue to have a prickly relationship with many of his Labor colleagues for the rest of his life.
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