Editing Chris Watson (section)

==Defeat and final years as leader==
[[File:John Christian Watson.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Watson in 1908]]
Although Watson sought a dissolution of parliament so that an election could be held, the [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]] [[Henry Northcote, 1st Baron Northcote|Lord Northcote]] refused. Unable to command a majority in the House of Representatives, Watson resigned the premiership less than four months after taking office, his term ending on 18 August 1904 (Deakin was later defeated on a similar bill).<ref name=apmio1>{{cite web
  | title =Chris Watson, In office
  | publisher =[[National Archives of Australia]]
  | work =Australia's Prime Ministers
  | url =http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/watson/in-office.aspx
  | access-date =10 February 2010
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160218184033/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/watson/in-office.aspx
  | archive-date =18 February 2016
| url-status =dead
  }}</ref> Reid became prime minister and four months later his government managed to pass the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill after compromising to extend the scope to state public servants as Watson had proposed.<ref name=adb/><ref name=apmio2>{{cite web
  | title =Chris Watson, The fall of the Watson government
  | publisher =[[National Archives of Australia]]
  | work =Australia's Prime Ministers
  | url =http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/watson/in-office.aspx#section3
  | access-date =10 February 2010
| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160218184033/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/watson/in-office.aspx#section3
  | archive-date =18 February 2016
| url-status =dead
  }}</ref>

Deakin again became prime minister after Reid lost confidence of the parliament in July 1905. Watson led Labour<!-- do not change spelling, is correct in historical context --> to the [[1906 Australian federal election|1906 federal election]] and improved their position again. At this election the seat of Bland was abolished, so he shifted to the seat of [[Division of South Sydney|South Sydney]]. But in October 1907, recognising his work for the foundation of the parliamentary party was complete and also due to fatigue and concern over the health of his wife Ada, he resigned the Labour<!-- do not change spelling, is correct in historical context --> leadership in favour of [[Andrew Fisher]].<ref name=adb/>

From August 1906, Watson was an early influential supporter of [[Canberra]], as the site of the national capital.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Wood|first=Greg|title=Canberra: Maps and Makers|url=http://info.cmtedd.act.gov.au/Canberra100/storage/MapsandMakersGregWood.pdf|pages=19|access-date=1 October 2021|archive-date=28 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928074822/http://info.cmtedd.act.gov.au/Canberra100/storage/MapsandMakersGregWood.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1908-10-09|title=CAPITAL SITE.|work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10169204|access-date=2021-10-10}}</ref>

Watson retired from politics, aged only 42, prior to the [[1910 Australian federal election|1910 federal election]], at which Labour won with 50 percent of the primary vote. It was the first time a party had been elected to [[majority government]] in the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], it was also the first time a party won a [[Australian Senate|Senate]] majority, and it was the world's first [[List of Labour Parties|Labour Party]] majority government at a national level. The ALP vote had risen rapidly, going from 15 percent against two larger and more established parties in 1901, to 50 percent in 1910, after a majority of the Protectionist Party merged with the [[Anti-Socialist Party]], creating the [[Commonwealth Liberal Party]] which received 45 percent.<ref name=adb/>