Edwin Corboy
| Edwin Corboy | |
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| Member of the Australian Parliament for Swan |
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In office 26 October 1918 – 13 December 1919 |
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| Preceded by | John Forrest |
| Succeeded by | John Prowse |
| Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Yilgarn |
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In office 1921–1930 |
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| Preceded by | Charles Hudson |
| Succeeded by | District abolished |
| Member of Parliament for Yilgarn-Coolgardie |
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In office 1930–1933 |
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| Preceded by | New district |
| Succeeded by | George Lambert |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
24 August 1896 Victoria |
| Died | 6 August 1950 (aged 53) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Occupation | Clerk |
Edwin Wilkie "Ted" Corboy (24 August 1896 – 6 August 1950) was an Australian politician. From 1918 to 2010, he held the record as the youngest ever Australian Member of Parliament.
Born in Victoria, he was educated in Western Australia at Perth Boys' School, and enlisted for military service in June 1915, after having previously been rejected. He served at Gallipoli and later in France, where he was wounded twice, first at Pozières and later at Flers, before being invalided to England because of injury to his eyes, the result of a gas attack. On his return to Western Australia in May 1917, he worked as a clerk in the records branch of the Western Australian Lands Department and was an active member of the Labour Party.
At the age of 21, Corboy unsuccessfully contested the 1917 Subiaco by-election for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia. He was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives in the 1918 by-election for the Division of Swan. He won the by-election in somewhat unusual circumstances, winning the safe Nationalist seat for the Labor Party. The conservative vote was split because two conservative parties, the Nationalists and the Country Party, both contested the election. Corboy, received the highest number of primary votes and won the "first past the post" contest. This unexpected outcome led to the introduction of preferential voting in Australia. Corboy, who was 22 when he was elected, became the youngest person ever elected to the House of Representatives and held that record until Wyatt Roy, aged 20, won the Division of Longman in the 2010 federal election.
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