 Joseph Lyons reportedly offered Chifley the treasurership as an inducement to join the United Australia Party (UAP), the new party he had created; Chifley declined and remained a member of the Labor Party.At the 1931 election, Chifley suffered a negative swing of 16.2 points in Macquarie, losing his seat to John Lawson, the UAP candidate, by just 456 votes on the final count.The Labor Party was reduced to 14 seats out of 75 in the House of Representatives, with five other ministers (including Treasurer Ted Theodore) and future prime minister John Curtin also losing their seats.