The newly formed Liberal Party improves on the position of its predecessor
but loses the election. Menzies comes close to retiring from politics
but resolves to contest the next election.
"Few knew that parliamentary aplomb and
public pursuit of a favourite sport [cricket] at this time masked great
personal uncertainty. Defeat in the election, after all his hard work
and optimism, had bitten deeply into Menzies' being, provoking a mood
of self-questioning, even of doubt about the worthwhileness of the political
life to which he had so long dedicated himself."
A W Martin, Robert Menzies: A Life. Vol 1 1844-1978, 1999 p 61.
Mrs Kate Menzies, Robert's mother, dies at the age of 80, one year after
her husband.
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