Eric Harrison

The Right Honourable Sir Eric Harrison KCMG, KCVO
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 21 February 1945 – 26 September 1956
Leader	Robert Menzies
Preceded by	Party established
Succeeded by	Harold Holt
Leader of the House
In office 11 May 1951 – 26 September 1956
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Harold Holt
Deputy Leader of the United Australia Party
In office 14 April 1944 – 21 February 1945
Leader	Robert Menzies
Preceded by	Billy Hughes
Succeeded by	party abolished
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 23 April 1950 – 30 March 1951
Preceded by	Jack Beasley
Succeeded by	Thomas White
In office 25 October 1956 – 25 October 1964
Preceded by	Thomas White
Succeeded by	Alick Downer
Member of the Australian Parliament for Wentworth
In office 19 December 1931 – 17 October 1956
Preceded by	Walter Marks
Succeeded by	Les Bury
Personal details
Born	(1892-09-07)7 September 1892 Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Died	26 September 1974(1974-09-26) (aged 82) Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	UAP (1931–45) Liberal (from 1945)
Spouses	Mary McCall ​ (m. 1920⁠–⁠1941)​ Linda Yardley ​ (m. 1944)​
Children	3, including Shirley Walters

Sir Eric John Harrison, KCMG, KCVO (7 September 1892 – 26 September 1974) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1964.

Harrison was born in Sydney and left school at the age of 13. He served with the Australian Army during World War I, and after the war's end became the manager of a textile factory. Harrison was elected to the House of Representatives in 1931, representing the United Australia Party (UAP). He served briefly as Minister for Interior in 1934, under Joseph Lyons, and returned to the ministry in 1938. Over the next three years he held positions in the governments of Lyons, Earle Page, Robert Menzies, and Arthur Fadden.

In 1944, Harrison replaced Billy Hughes as deputy leader of the UAP. When the new Liberal Party was formed the following year, he was elected to the same position. In Menzies' second government, Harrison held various defence-related portfolios. He was also made the inaugural Leader of the House in 1951. Harrison left politics in 1956 to become High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. He retired in 1964, and suffered from Parkinson's disease in later years. His daughter, Shirley Walters, followed him into politics, becoming the first woman to represent Tasmania in the Senate.