Today it is 81 years since an Australian prime minister first died in office. So, here is a morbid thread for morbid times: Aussie and Kiwi PMs who died in office. I promise you this derives from a discussion a couple of weeks ago and it has nothing to do with Boris Johnson.

If you are younger than about 50 or 60, the idea of a PM dying in office is absolutely wild. Imagine the social media meltdown! Yet during the 20th century it was surprisingly common.

I'll start with NZ, because I gotta finish w/ the most recent Aussie one. (All pics: Wikipedia)

John Ballance, NZ's first PM to die in office, was also the first PM of the party era. All MPs were independents until the 1890 election. Ballance routed the conservative opposition and formed the Liberals but died 27 April 1893 of an intestinal disease after surgery aged 54.

Richard Seddon succeeded Ballance. "King Dick" served from 1893 to 1906, the longest term of any New Zealand PM. He had a massive heart attack aboard a ship sailing home from Australia and became the second PM to die in office on 10 June 1906, 12 days before his 61st birthday.

William Massey of Reform took power in May 1912—the Liberal govt of Thomas Mackenzie lost a confidence vote in parliament—and became NZ's second-longest serving PM. He died of cancer on 10 May 1925 aged 69, having already handed many responsibilities to colleagues during 1924.

Joseph Ward didn't officially die in office, but I think he's worth including. He succeeded Seddon as PM (after William Hall-Jones kept the seat warm for two months), served 1906–12, and then made a late-career comeback in 1928 to become PM again—but in failing health.

Ward had multiple heart attacks but insisted on remaining PM for much longer than he should've. His colleagues and family finally persuaded him to resign on 28 May 1930, by which point George Forbes was de facto PM anyway. Ward died 8 July 1930, aged 74.

Michael Joseph Savage might be NZ's most famous death in office. He became Labour's first PM in 1935 and foolishly delayed treatment for colon cancer to fight the 1938 election. He died 27 March 1940 aged 68; it fell to Peter Fraser to lead NZ in WWII and secure Savage's reforms.

Norman Kirk was the most recent PM to die in office. Elected in 1972 for Labour, he maintained an intense workload even in failing health. He had diabetes and dysentery and died of a pulmonary embolism on 31 Aug 1974 aged 51. Even close colleagues were unaware how sick he was.

Australia and NZ both elected reformist labour PMs in 1972 (Whitlam and Kirk) and both left office unexpectedly early (dismissal, young death). I sometimes wonder how different each country would be if those governments had endured longer. Kirk surely would've won 1975's poll.

Anyway, to wrap up NZ:

- 5 PMs died in office (6 counting Ward)
- 2 Liberal, 2 Labour, 1 Reform, (1 United); no National ever has
- years: 1893, 1906, 1925, (1930), 1940, 1974

Australia has lost fewer, but done them a bit more sensationally.

I haven't time to go through Australia's colonial premiers; a PM first died in office 38 years after federation. Joseph Lyons, former Labor premier of TAS, led United Australia to victory in 1931 and died of a heart attack on 7 April 1939 aged 59. He had been planning to retire.

The next PM to die in office came just six years later: Labor's John Curtin. He took power in 1941 and led Australia through the worst of WWII but died of heart disease before it ended: 5 July 1945 aged 60. As with Savage/Fraser, it fell to Chifley to see through Curtin's vision.

The most recent Australian PM to die in office was the one we managed to misplace: Harold Holt, c.17 December 1967 aged 59, body never found. His presumed death by drowning at Cheviot Beach has overshadowed his life and career; PM from January 1966, he won that year's election.

Holt is the only Australian or New Zealand PM to die of a cause other than a medical issue. I find the ages striking: all were men in their 50s or 60s (unless counting Ward, 74). No woman prime minister has died in office. Hope this morbid tour helps you in your next pub quiz!