Mr Rudd's final Walesing

The challenge by Julia Gillard for Mr Rudd's job actually came as a bit of surprise. My immediate feeling was that it marked the final New South Walesing of Mr Rudd; organisation by factional bosses to get rid of a leader perceived as unsuccessful.

As I write, the commonly accepted view is that Ms Gillard has the numbers. We will know this soon enough.

There is no doubt that Mr Rudd's style contributed to his problems. However, part of his problems also lay in the way that policy was rolled out. This is, I have argued, a systemic problem.

We can see this in NSW where leadership changes actually had little policy impact because the policy system itself was broken. The issue for Ms Gillard is whether or not she can fix things at a Federal level. I suspect that we will find this out quite quickly.

My family's reaction was interesting. Julia Gillard supporters, their first reaction was oh no, it's too soon. We will see.

Postscript:

Well, Ms Gillard is the new leader of the Party and hence PM once Mr Rudd hands his commission in. At a purely personal level, I feel great sympathy for Mr Rudd. I wanted him to improve his performance so that he could deliver.

Ms Gillard may well have a honeymoon period because she is the first female PM and well liked by many. However, because many ( I certainly do)  feel a sense of lost opportunity, the pressures on her will be great.