Bill Shorten has been elected leader of the ALP after a month-long battle for the top job with Anthony Albanese.
Mr Shorten won with 52.02 per cent of the vote: 63.95 per cent from the Caucus and 40.08 per cent from the rank-and-file membership, who got a say in a leadership ballot for the first time.
The result was announced to the Caucus at a special meeting in Parliament House this afternoon.
Labor’s Parliamentary returning officer Chris Hayes confirmed that Mr Shorten had attracted the majority of the Caucus vote, gaining 55 votes to Mr Albanese’s 31.
Chris Bowen, who held the interim Labor leadership, says the Australian public had a unique opportunity to become familiar with both candidates via the election process.
“A new leader of the opposition traditionally as a hard task to introduce themselves to the Australian people because a government inevitably has a honeymoon and it’s very hard for a leader of the opposition, newly minted, to get the attention of [the media] and the Australian people,” he said.
“Bill comes to this now having been introduced to the Australian people through this process, and the Australian people have had the chance, whether they’re Labor members or not, to watch the debates and to see the new alternative PM in action.
“So he starts with an advantage that some of his predecessors have not due to the process that the Labor.”
Congratulations to Bill Shorten on becoming Labor leader. A great honour! I wish Bill all the best.JG
— Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) October 13, 2013
