 Accompanied by another senior minister in the Scullin government, James Fenton, and four other right-wing Labor MPs, he crossed the floor to sit on the opposition benches.Soon afterward, Lyons and his supporters joined with the opposition Nationalist Party and the Australian Party, a small party led by Billy Hughes, to form a new party, the United Australia Party (UAP).Although the UAP was essentially an enlarged Nationalist Party, Lyons was chosen as leader of the party.