Patrick Leslie Coleman

Who was Patrick Leslie Coleman?

Patrick Leslie "Les" Coleman, Australian politician, was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Melbourne West Province representing the Australian Labor Party from October 1943 until March 1955. He was a member of the Catholic Social Studies Movement in Victoria, and was expelled from the ministry and the ALP as part of the Australian Labor Party split of 1955. After his expulsion from the ALP in March 1955, he became, with William Barry in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the parliamentary leader of the Australian Labor Party, which was briefly referred to in the media as the Coleman-Barry Labor Party. He was a member of that party only until June 1955.

Coleman was educated at the Christian Brothers College in East Melbourne. He qualified as an accountant while working part time for the Victorian Department of Education, and later owned various hotels. Coleman was a Commissioner of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works and a Melbourne City Councillor from 1939-1960. He was Government Leader in the Legislative Council from 1952-1955. He was Assistant Treasurer and Minister of Materials in the second Cain government from 1945–47, and Minister for Transport in the third Cain government from 1952-55.