Editing United Australia Party (section)

===Foundation===
[[File:The Ideals of United Australia (cropped).jpg|right|150px|thumb|Advertisement for the U.A.P. published in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' prior to the [[1931 Australian federal election|1931 federal election]].]]
The UAP was formed in 1931 by Labor dissidents and a conservative coalition as a response to the more radical economic proposals of Labor Party members to deal with the Great Depression in Australia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/lyons/elections.aspx |title=Elections – Joseph Lyons – Australia's PMs – Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=Primeministers.naa.gov.au |access-date=28 June 2013 |archive-date=11 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311155238/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/lyons/elections.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lyons and Fenton's opposition to the economic policies of the Scullin Labor government had attracted the support of a circle of socially prominent Melburnians known as "the Group" or "Group of Six", comprising stockbroker [[Staniforth Ricketson]], insurance company president Charles Arthur Norris, metallurgist and businessman [[John Michael Higgins (businessman)|John Michael Higgins]], writer [[Ambrose Pratt]], state attorney-general [[Robert Menzies]], and architect [[Kingsley Henderson]]. In parliament on 13 March 1931, though still a member of the ALP, Lyons supported a [[no confidence motion]] against the Scullin Labor government. Soon afterward, Lyons, Fenton and four other right-wing Labor MPs—[[Moses Gabb]], [[Allan Guy]], [[Charles McGrath (politician)|Charles McGrath]] and [[John Price (South Australian politician)|John Price]]—resigned from the ALP in protest of the Scullin government's economic policies. Five of the six Labor dissidents—all except Gabb—formed the ''[[All for Australia League]]'' and crossed over to the opposition benches. On 7 May, the All for Australia League, the Nationalist opposition (hitherto led by [[John Latham (jurist)|John Latham]]) and former Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]]' [[Australian Party]] (a group of former Nationalists who had been expelled for crossing the floor and bringing down [[Stanley Bruce]]'s Nationalist government in 1929), merged to form the UAP. Although the new party was dominated by former Nationalists, Lyons was chosen as the new party's leader, and thus became [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Leader of the Opposition]], with Latham as his deputy.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The [[Western Australia]] branch of the Nationalists, however, retained the Nationalist name.

[[File:Who Shall Control Your Savings? (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|At the 1931 federal election, the UAP campaigned on a platform of economic conservatism, accusing the Labor governments of [[James Scullin]] and [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]] of destroying the economy]]
Claiming that the Scullin government was incapable of managing the economy, it offered traditional deflationary economic policies in response to Australia's economic crisis.  Though it was basically an upper- and middle-class conservative party, the presence of ex-Labor MPs with working-class backgrounds allowed the party to present a convincing image of national unity transcending class barriers. This was especially true of the party leader, Lyons. Indeed, he had been chosen as the merged party's leader because he was thought to be more electorally appealing than the aloof Latham, and was thus better suited to win over traditional Labor supporters to the UAP.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

A further split, this time of left-wing NSW Labor MPs who supported the unorthodox economic policies of NSW Premier [[Jack Lang (Australian politician)|Jack Lang]], cost the Scullin government its parliamentary majority. In November 1931, Lang Labor dissidents broke with the Scullin government and joined with the UAP opposition to pass a no-confidence motion, forcing an early election.