(b. Stanley, Tasmania, 15 Sept. 1879; d. Sydney, 7 Apr. 1939) Australian; Premier of Tasmania 1916 – 19, 1923 – 8, Leader of United Australia Party and Prime Minister 1931 – 9Lyons, the son of Irish parents, was forced at a young age to help support his large family after his father proved unsuccessful in small business and then lost the family's money gambling. He attended St Joseph's Convent School and the local state school and graduated from pupil to qualified schoolteacher in 1901.

After entering the Tasmanian parliament in 1909 Lyons was quickly promoted in the Labor Party and he held a number of portfolios, including Treasurer and then Premier in First World War ministries. Lyons's early reformist zeal, which led to free and better education in Tasmania, had been tempered by the time of his second premiership in the late 1920s; and by the time he became acting federal Treasurer in 1930 he was financially conservative. When the Labor government responded to the financial emergency of 1930 – 1 with orthodox budgetary restraint, Lyons bore the brunt of the left's anger. He refused to entertain thought of postponing overseas loan repayments, aligned himself with an influential group of Melbourne businessmen opposed to Labor and, with their backing, became leader of the new conservative alliance, the United Australia Party. Soon afterwards, Lyons won the December 1931 federal election and remained Prime Minister until his sudden death, from a heart attack, in 1939.

As his party was a loose coalition, Lyons spent much of his premiership trying to co-ordinate its members. His general aim, to put the country on sound business lines, was achieved to some extent, but more specific proposals struggled to find their way through opposition from states, influential key interest groups, or from within parliament where he held only narrow majorities. Despite protracted planning and negotiation he was unable to turn social insurance proposals into law. In foreign policy Lyons was mostly content to follow the lead of Britain, although he briefly and unsuccessfully tried to interest the United States in a Pacific pact.

Through his shrewdness, his parliamentary skills and use of radio, and through a lack of viable contenders, Lyons led his party to three successive electoral victories. Throughout his career he derived great support and advice from his wife, Enid, who in 1943 became the first woman in federal parliament.

A Dictionary of Political Biography. Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.