Australian Labor ditch Barry girl..

Oh well it’s been eventful…but Julia’s out (from the BBC).

Wednesday’s leadership test was the third faced by Ms Gillard since she took office in 2010. She herself ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in 2010.

The BBC’s Nick Bryant in Sydney says Mr Rudd has exacted his revenge, after three years of him and his supporters mounting a destabilisation campaign targeted very much at her.

Australian politics is a pretty brutal business…

Rudd has 100 days to a general election against Tony Abbott with Labor a fair bit behind. (from the BBC again, pre Rudd Coup)

The polls suggest not only a defeat for Labor but also a rout. I have spoken to senior figures within the party who think it will be lucky to hold onto 30 seats, which in a parliament of 150 MPs would be calamitous. In Queensland, they could face a near wipe out.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd remains popular with voters, but has ruled out a return Some Labor insiders fear they will retain just one seat – that, emblematically, of Kevin Rudd in Brisbane. They also expect to lose a swathe of seats in the western suburbs of Sydney, another key battleground.

We’ll see…..

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