The first Independent Labour MP in federal politics was
James Wilkinson, who was elected at the
1901 election. He had been a member of the ALP previously, and rejoined the party in 1903. The
Blackburn-Mutton Labor Party was formed in June 1947 by
Doris Blackburn, the member for
Bourke, and
Charlie Mutton, the member for
Coburg in the
Victorian Legislative Assembly. It was created as a guarantee company so that both MPs could keep describing themselves as Independent Labor after the ALP attempted to restrict the use of the word "Labor". The party later merged into the
Progressive Labor Party. The
Independent Labor Group was a grouping in the
New South Wales Legislative Council from 1959 to 1977, after a number of Labor MLCs were expelled from the party for voting against the abolition of the Legislative Council, which was then party policy. In more recent years, the label has been rarely used outside of local elections. Former MP
Brenton Best nominated as an Independent Labor candidate in 2017, and
Territory Labor MP
Jeff Collins used the label after resigning from the party in 2019, before later joining
Territory Alliance. On 23 August 2021, former
Tasmanian Labor leader
David O’Byrne resigned from the party caucus to sit as an Independent Labor MP, which he continued to do so until resigning his ALP membership on 4 February 2024. On 5 August 2023,
Ringwood MP
Will Fowles was asked to resign from the
parliamentary Victorian Labor Party by then-Premier
Daniel Andrews following allegations of a serious assault. He remained as a rank-and-file member until resigning from the party in August 2024. ==Local government==