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The Evolution of Prime Ministerial Afterlives in Australia

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Former Leaders in Modern Democracies

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership Series ((PSPL))

Abstract

What does one do with a former prime minister who is determined to hang around in politics? The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has been grappling uncomfortably with this question since mid-2010 when Kevin Rudd, who had led Labor triumphantly into office less than three years earlier, was unceremoniously dumped by his caucus colleagues as party leader and prime minister following a collapse in his government’s opinion poll ratings and disquiet about his leadership style. Rather than exiting parliament, as seemed to be the expectation of his executioners, Rudd not only signalled that he intended to recontest his seat at the election due in the second half of 2010, but that he would seek a senior position in the Cabinet of his successor, Julia Gillard. Despite warnings about the pitfalls of such an arrangement (e.g. Abjorensen 2010), when Gillard was returned to office following the August election, she assigned Rudd the prized portfolio of foreign affairs. To date that arrangement has survived but has been a distraction for the government, which has been dogged by near continuous media speculation about the relationship between Gillard and Rudd, a search for splits in their position on foreign policy and opinion polls comparing the popularity of the prime minister and the man she deposed (e.g. Savva 2011; Shanahan 2011).

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Authors
  1. Paul Strangio
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leeds, UK

    Kevin Theakston (Professor of British Government and Head of the School of Politics) (Professor of British Government and Head of the School of Politics)

  2. Leiden University, the Netherlands

    Jouke de Vries (Professor of Public Administration and Dean of Campus Den Haag) (Professor of Public Administration and Dean of Campus Den Haag)

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© 2012 Paul Strangio

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Strangio, P. (2012). The Evolution of Prime Ministerial Afterlives in Australia. In: Theakston, K., de Vries, J. (eds) Former Leaders in Modern Democracies. Palgrave Studies in Political Leadership Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137265319_5

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