Julia Gillard becomes Prime Minister

Julia Gillard has become Australia’s first female Prime Minister after Kevin Rudd stood down ahead of a leadership spill in Canberra this morning.

Wayne Swan will be Deputy Prime Minister and is expected to retain the role of Treasurer.

Gillard announced a shock leadership challenge late on Wednesday night after the Victorian Right faction – led by Parliamentary secretary Bill Shorten – and key unions including the Australian Workers Union announced they would no longer support Rudd.

This triggered an avalanche of support for Gillard, with key government figures such as Treasurer Wayne Swan, defence minister John Faulkner and Stephen Smith backing Gillard to take the top job.

Rudd had attempted to marshal support by arguing he had been “elected by the Australian people to do a job” and he would not bow to factional politics.

But a series of policy blunders – including what was seen as a hard-line stance on asylum seekers, the Government’s backflip on the emissions trading scheme and the divisive Resources Super Profits Tax – cost Rudd badly.

Labor Parliamentarians speaking before the Labor caucus meeting also slammed Rudd’s leadership style, saying his failure to include the party room on key policy decisions  such as the RSPT showed an unwillingness to adopt an inclusive leadership style.

In the end, Rudd decided not to contest the leadership, reportedly so the ALP could have a relatively “clean” leadership transition.

Small Business Minister Craig Emerson was the most prominent minister to throw his support behind Rudd.