Deputy Prime Minister of Australia accepted the view put to him by McEwen that to commission a Liberal temporarily as Prime Minister would give that person an unfair advantage in the forthcoming party room ballot for the permanent leader. McEwen's appointment was in keeping with the previous occasion when the main non-Labor party was without a leader; Earle Page of the Country Party was interim Prime Minister between 7 and 26 April 1939—the period between Joseph Lyons' sudden death and the United Australia Party naming Robert Menzies his successor. Since 1968 only two Deputy Prime Ministers have gone on to become Prime Minister: Paul Keating
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia () is the second highest political office in Malaysia. There have been twelve deputy prime ministers since the office was created in 1957. The first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, started the convention of appointing a Deputy Prime Minister. The current Deputy Prime Minister is Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who took office on 10 May 2018, she is the first female to hold office. Although Malaysia has always had a Deputy Prime Minister since independence, a Prime Minister may choose not to appoint a Deputy Prime Minister.