Frederick Warner was elected to the
Western Australian Legislative Assembly as an Independent Country candidate in
1933, defeating sitting Country MP
John Lindsay. He later sought (and received) Country Party endorsement for the
1936 election, and was re-elected with an increased majority. Other Independent Country MPs in Western Australia included
Lionel Kelly and
Ray Owen, both elected at separate by-elections. The first federal Independent Country MP was
Alexander Wilson, a member of the
Victorian state branch of the Country Party who was first elected in
1937. He was opposed to the
Coalition with the
United Australia Party, and later played a key role in the downfall of the
Fadden government in 1941.
Tony Crook, a member of the
Western Australian National Party, described himself as an independent and chose to sit on the crossbench after being elected as the member for
O'Connor at the
2010 federal election. Following
Peter Dutton's unsuccessful attempt to oust
Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the
Liberal Party and
Prime Minister, federal Nationals MP
Kevin Hogan announced that he would move to the crossbench if the Liberals called for
another spill before the next election. He made good on his promise on 24 August, when Turnbull resigned the leadership rather than face a second spill, which resulted in
Scott Morrison becoming prime minister. Hogan called himself an Independent National and sat on the
crossbench, before later returning to the Coalition benches on 21 May 2019, three days after being re-elected as a National at the
federal election. ==Similar political descriptions==