When Hughes was expelled from the Labor Party after the first referendum, Munro Ferguson allowed him to stay in office as a minority Prime Minister and encouraged Hughes and Cook to form a new party, the Nationalist Party, on a "win the war" platform.
When Hughes was expelled from the Labor Party after the first referendum, Munro Ferguson allowed him to stay in office as a minority Prime Minister, supported by Cook's Anti-Socialist Party. He encouraged Hughes and Cook to form a new party, the Nationalist Party, on a "win the war" platform.