Tom Stott

Tom Cleave Stott CBE (6 June 1899 – 21 October 1976) spent 37 years as an independent member of the South Australian House of Assembly, serving as Speaker of the House from 1962 to 1965 for the Tom Playford LCL government and 1968 to 1970 for the Steele Hall LCL government, both times in exchange for his confidence and supply vote to form minority governments.

Born in Norwood, South Australia, Stott completed primary school and began working for his father on their 2225 hectare wheat farm near Mindarie, in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia, while continuing his education through Workers' Educational Association (WEA) classes and extensive reading.

Stott showed great interest in the problems facing his fellow wheat farmers and joined the newly formed Country Party in 1920. As President of his local branch, Stott began to raise his profile around the electorate and in farming circles, helping to found the Farmers Protection Association in 1929, the South Australian Wheatgrowers Protection Association (SAWPA) in 1930 and the Australian Wheatgrowers Federation (AWF) in 1931. He was also appointed General Secretary of each of these organisations.

Stott was considering seeking Country Party preselection for his local Electoral district of Albert at the 1933 election when it was announced that the Country Party would merge with the urban based Liberal Federation to form the Liberal and Country League (LCL). He opposed the move, fearing both that the rural prerogative of the Country Party would be diminished and that his preselection may become more difficult. His fears were partly realised when he lost LCL pre-selection; Stott promptly resigned from the party to run as an independent.

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