Even in the wake of their landslide victory in 1966, the Liberals were still four seats short of an outright majority. With only the Country Party as a realistic coalition partner, McEwen's opposition forced McMahon to withdraw from the leadership ballot. This opened the door for the successful campaign to promote the Minister for Education and Science, Senator John Gorton, to the Prime Ministership with the support of a group led by Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser. Gorton was elected as leader of the Liberal Party on 9 January 1968, and succeeded McEwen as Prime Minister the following day. It was the second time the Country Party had effectively vetoed its senior partner's choice for the leadership; in 1923 Earle Page had demanded that the Nationalist Party, one of the forerunners of the Liberals, remove Billy Hughes as leader before he would even consider coalition talks.