Nonetheless, it came as a surprise[to whom?] when Newman took the seat off Labor with a massive 14-point swing, turning Bass into a safe Liberal seat at one stroke. He won 57.6 percent of the primary vote, enough to win without the need for preferences. This shock result is reckoned[by whom?] as the beginning of the end for Prime MinisterGough Whitlam, as Newman's victory emboldened the Coalition to push for new elections for a House of Representatives barely a year old—even to the point of blocking supply.[citation needed] The Whitlam government was dismissed six months later.
Newman was married to Jocelyn Newman, a Senator for Tasmania, and Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women in the Howard government. They had two children: Kate and Campbell. Campbell Newman was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane 2004–11, and was Premier of Queensland from March 2012 to February 2015.