Francis Matthew John Baker (1903 – 28 March 1939) was an Australian politician and Vice-President of the State Service Union.

Baker was born in Bundaberg

Bundaberg, Queensland

Bundaberg is a city in Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Local Government Area of the Bundaberg Region and is a major centre within Queensland's broader Wide Bay-Burnett geographical region...

, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. A member of the Federal Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, he unsuccessfully ran for office for the Queensland seat of Oxley

Division of Oxley (1901-34)

The Division of Oxley was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Queensland. It was located in the inner southern suburbs of Brisbane, and originally included the suburbs of South Brisbane, Woolloongabba and Coorparoo...

 in the 1928 federal election, being beaten by James Bayley

James Bayley (Australian politician)

James Garfield Bayley was an Australian politician. Born in Franklin, Tasmania, he moved to Queensland as a child. He was educated at Brisbane Grammar School and at Stanford University in the United States. He returned to Australia as a teacher and eventually a school principal...

 of the Nationalist Party

Nationalist Party of Australia

The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...

.

In the 1931 election he again contested Oxley, this time successfully. Following the abolition of Oxley, Baker was elected as the representative for Griffith

Division of Griffith

The Division of Griffith is anAustralian Electoral Division in Queensland.The division was created in 1934, when the old seat of Oxley was abolished, and is named for Sir Samuel Griffith, 9th Premier of Queensland and principal author of the Australian Constitution...

, Queensland in 1934 and 1937. He remained in parliament until 1939 when he was killed in a motor accident. His death resulted in the 1939 Griffith by-election

Griffith by-election, 1939

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Griffith on 20 May 1939. This was triggered by the death of Labor Party MP Frank Baker.The election was won by Labor candidate William Conelan by four votes.-Results:...

.

In 1936, Baker led a proposal for Australian parliamentary proceedings to be broadcast on radio.

Following his death, the Australian Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons

Joseph Lyons

Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931...

 commented that "had he lived, I am sure he would have advanced to an important place in his party." Baker studied law while a member of parliament and had almost completed his course when he died.

Baker's father, Francis (Frank) Patrick Baker, was elected to the seat of Maranoa

Division of Maranoa

The Division of Maranoa is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Maranoa River, which runs through the division...

in 1940. This is the only case in which a father was elected to the Australian federal parliament after his son.