Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Kevin Rudd ousts Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard ahead of Sept. 14 election which polls say looks bad for Labor-BBC

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6/26/13, "Kevin Rudd ousts Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard," BBC

"Kevin Rudd has ousted Prime Minister Julia Gillard as leader of Australia's Labor Party.

He won 57 votes in a leadership ballot called by Ms Gillard, who received 45 votes.

The change comes ahead of an election called for 14 September, which polls suggest Labor is set to lose.

Mr Rudd is more popular with voters than Ms Gillard, and many believe Labor will perform better in the election under him.

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

Ms Gillard had said ahead of the vote she would step down from politics if she lost the ballot. The vote followed months of speculation over the party's leadership and came after a day of drama that saw Mr Rudd's supporters push for a vote. ...

The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says the Labor party wants to hold power and the best way they see of doing that is to restore Kevin Rudd to leadership.

Many people do not think he will win the election but he may mitigate the losses and shorten the time Labor could spend in opposition if the party loses, our correspondent says.

A poll published earlier this month suggested that three cabinet ministers would lose their seats under Ms Gillard, but would retain their seats if Mr Rudd was leading the party.

The vote makes Mr Rudd the leader of the Labor Party, but not prime minister.

Ms Gillard must write to Governor General Quentin Bryce stating that she is resigning as prime minister before Mr Rudd can be sworn in.

A shake-up in the cabinet is expected following the leadership change."


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