 Tom Stott was the de facto leader of the independent caucus within parliament.At the 1944 election he, again as an independent "Labor" candidate, received the largest number of primary votes on 43.5 percent, but the A.L.P.candidate R. A. Dale on 37.2 percent won after Communist Alf Watt's preferences were distributed from their 19.4 percent vote, a South Australian Communist record.