Labor has tied the record for most seats won at an election

Labor candidate Basem Abdo is projected to win the Melbourne electorate of Calwell, bringing Labor’s total number of lower house seats to 94.

The result matches the Coalition’s 1996 landslide victory, tying the record for the most seats won at an election.

It is also the most seats ever won by a single party (as the Coalition is two parties) at an Australian federal election in history.

Calwell

The AEC has been finalising some counts across the country, including recounts in two seats this week.

Calwell, in Melbourne’s outer-northern fringe, was complicated by a low primary vote for the Labor Party and an unpredictable flow of preferences.

The preference count is now nearly complete, showing Labor is on course to win.

Albanese

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Labor’s victory in Calwell brings its count to 94 seats in the House of Representatives.

It marks the largest number of seats in federal parliament for a single party ever.

In 1996, John Howard led the Coalition to win a landslide victory against a 13-year sitting Labor Government.

The Liberal Party won 76 seats and the Nationals picked up 18, taking the Coalition to a total of 94. Labor has now tied this total record.

Records

While Albanese and Howard are tied for the highest number of seats, former Liberal PM Malcolm Fraser still holds the record for the highest proportion of seats.

Fraser won 91 seats in the 1975 election, which was 72% of total seats in the parliament at the time (it was smaller). This followed the sacking of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General.

The size of the Parliament changes occasionally based on population flows. There are currently 150 seats.