A formidable trio

Menzies, who succeeded Lyons in 1939, led by command and demand. He was a successful Victorian lawyer who had served in both Houses of the Victorian Parliament and had been Acting Premier for three months. He was seen as a likely UAP leader from the beginning of his career in Federal Parliament, when in 1934 he won the seat of Kooyong and was appointed Attorney General and Deputy Party leader.

Menzies' entry into Federal Parliament was sponsored by the National Union, an organisation closely allied with the shadowy 'Group,' as a successor to Joe Lyons. Often described as vain, arrogant and impatient with those he considered inferior to himself, which was nearly everybody, Menzies had an unfortunate condescending air, which aroused prickly antagonism and he was regarded by many as conceited and ambitious.

But Menzies had many supporters who saw him as a strong, intelligent and a reliable leader. The Hobart Mercury described him in 1939, as a natural leader, a man of brilliant intellect, determined, and farseeing. This he may have been, but he was also tactless and, crucially, increased his unpopularity by resigning as Deputy Leader over the National Insurance Bill in 1939.

His resignation was interpreted by some as an attempt to destabilise Lyons and a bid for the leadership, rather than the matter of principle he claimed. It came on the heels of a speech he made in 1938, also interpreted as a bid for the leadership, in which he appealed for 'inspiring leadership' in the event of a war in Europe. These factors caused him to be blamed for hastening Lyons' death by adding to the strain of his office.

Nevertheless, Menzies was elected by a very small margin. But only after an extraordinary, unwise and ill-fated attempt by Page and Treasurer Dick Casey (also a likely candidate) to persuade a reluctant Stanley Melbourne Bruce, now High Commissioner in London, to return to Australia and contest the election for UAP leader.

Menzies' reign however proved to be very short and not very sweet. He was forced to resign as leader and Prime Minister in August 1941, after only 26 months in office, due to unceasing hostility to his leadership by the party members. Although a competent Prime Minister, he failed to win the confidence and trust of his party colleagues mainly because they didn't like him. The office of Prime Minister then passed, again by default and for lack of any suitable candidates from the UAP, to Arthur Fadden, now Country Party leader after Page's resignation. Of course Menzies was to make a spectacular return to power and success in later years.

The third character in this discussion is leader of the CP Earle Page. The UAP governed in Coalition with the Country Party (CP) from 1934 until 1939 with Joe Lyons as Prime Minister and Page as his deputy. Page loomed large in Australian politics from his assumption of the CP leadership in 1921 until his electoral defeat in December 1961. And there is no doubt that he exerted a strong influence, perhaps out of proportion to his mandate, on the Lyons' Government.

He was a strong and inflexible politician and a tough, persuasive and tenacious campaigner with clear ideas on his political objectives and a determination to get his own way. It is clear that he was a formidable opponent and a belligerent leader, not easily swayed by an alternative point of view. He has also been presented as a 'redneck' character and a poor public speaker - a curious mixture.

It was no secret there was deep hostility between Page and Menzies. Menzies despised the CP's sectional bias, considered Page to be a boor and thought he had too much influence on Lyons. Much of the dislike was on a personal level and is difficult to identify clearly in the records, except for Page's remarkable outburst in Parliament on his resignation of the Prime Ministership in April 1939, when he accused Menzies of cowardice.

Menzies' dislike of Page has been ascribed to Page's tough bargaining or, more likely demands, on Lyons over the Coalition, and his CP parochialism. But there was more than politics involved in the hostile relationship between the two men; personalities were also involved. Menzies apparently was not averse to openly expressing his contempt for Page even to comparative strangers, and he was given to mimicking Page's characteristic 'giggle' for the amusement of his friends.

It is quite likely that Page was aware of this and felt insulted. Page also resented the fact that when the two were together on trade talks in London in 1938, Menzies was generally regarded as the 'real' head of the delegation-a sure sign of leadership qualities-and Page, probably envious of Menzies' talents and successes, also considered him to be treacherous and ambitious, and thought his behaviour, especially his resignation from the Government, to have contributed to Lyons' death

In the leadership struggle after the death of Joe Lyons, Page went to extraordinary lengths to prevent Bob Menzies from becoming Prime Minister, even though he was the most suitable candidate. Page, as Deputy Prime Minister under the terms of the coalition, was appointed PM on the death of Joe Lyons until the election of a leader of the UAP, who would then become Prime Minister. As soon as he was appointed Page publicly declared that if Menzies was elected leader of the UAP neither he nor the CP would serve under him, a clear attempt to destabilise the Menzies bid.