NSW Labor leadership result: McKay 60.5, Minns 39.5

Jodi McKay scores a commanding win over Chris Minns to replace Michael Daley as Labor’s leader in New South Wales.

Three months on from their defeat in the state election, the ALP in New South Wales has chosen Jodi McKay to succeed Michael Daley as leader. As is the case federally, the party rules in New South Wales divide the vote equally between the parliamentary party and the rank and file. But whereas the vote in 2013 saw Shorten win the party room and Albanese the rank-and-file, this time both sides of the equation have delivered majorities to McKay over her rival, Chris Minns. As reported in The Australian, McKay won the party room vote by 29 votes to 21 and the rank-and-file ballot by 6821 to 4001, for a weighted final result of 60.5-39.5.

This was only the second occasion when a party leader in Australia was chosen through a process that involved the party membership, the first having been Bill Shorten’s win over Anthony Albanese for the federal Labor leadership in 2013. Labor now has such a system in place federally and (I believe) in every state other than South Australia, but on other occasions such as the recent federal leadership transition, no contest transpired because only one candidate emerged.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

66 comments on “NSW Labor leadership result: McKay 60.5, Minns 39.5”

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  2. Albo is no leftist that is for sure, oh he may be if you define him by identity issues, but he is a neo liberal in terms of economics. he has admitted as much. Try harder Crankmomma.

  3. Bucephalus:

    [‘I’m pretty sure that only a natural person can take legal action for defamation.

    Happy to be corrected if wrong.’]

    You’re corrected, subject to whether a company can prove that the published material has caused the company or is likely to cause the company financial loss. A company is a very strange beast. And you shouldn’t be adversely judged for failing to understand the beast – the The Dutch East India Co. having a lot to answer for.

  5. Clem,

    I have to say that Albanese will not restore Labor’s stocks. He looks and sounds old Labor. The ALP should’ve gone for generational change – ie, Jim Chalmers, Terri Butler, representatives of the state where elections are won or lost, Rudd proving same.

  7. Oh yeah Crankmomma? Funny aint it, that your’e a fan girl of a woman who originally lined up to be a Tory MP. Some Labor warrior. You are a sick joke!

  8. Fred, what are you talking about? Jodi McKay won 58 percent of the parliamentarians and 63 percent of the members, giving an overall result of 60.5 percent.

  9. David Clune

    https://insidestory.org.au/nsw-labors-best-intentions/

    McKay’s victory represents a preference for the safe option over an untried, inexperienced but possibly inspirational leader. She is something of a replica of the person she replaced: like Daley, she has a good media image but beneath the appealing surface lacks a solid grasp of policy and detail.

    Interestingly, Labor MPs, who have seen leadership contenders close up and have a finely honed sense of electoral survival, were somewhat less enthusiastic about McKay than the rank and file. Although she won 63 per cent of the membership vote, her share in caucus was 58 per cent.

    The closeness of the caucus vote is part of the reason why this drawn-out, no-holds-barred struggle resolved nothing decisively. The wounds will fester, exacerbated by the claiming of spoils by the victors when shadow ministerial positions are distributed. Minns is likely to wait quietly for McKay to stumble, and it is hard to imagine McKay besting the astute and well-briefed Berejiklian in debate.

  10. David Clunes’ article was pretty dull to be honest.

    Ms McKay could not best her transport counterpart so she is unlike to cause Ms Berejiklian to lose much sleep. Plus Ms McKay cannot be sanguine about those who sit behind her.

  14. read Mr Clune’s article …. don’t think it is right…; takes a very negative view of the alp and the premier and Mr Constance are nothing to write home about on federal figures across Gilmore and Eden Monaro he would have lost Bega

  15. Ms McKay could not best her transport counterpart so she is unlike to cause Ms Berejiklian to lose much sleep. Plus Ms McKay cannot be sanguine about those who sit behind her.

    Well Alan Jones runs the state, Ms Berejiklian is going to benefit from the LNP / Fox / Sky / News / 7WestMedia propaganda alliance, and we’ve recently seen the NSW electorate is dumb as a bucket. If I was Berejiklian I’d be pretty unconcerned as well.

  16. Good to see WeWantPaul hammer home those old cliches with such force.
    What is with Labor people who think that somehow anyone who doesn’t like the ALP’s philosophy is somehow evil or foolish? Don’t they realise that they only make sure that plenty of people will vote for the Coalition if they are insulted by Laborites?
    As every good saleman knows, the best way to convince people is to praise them first and then present your case. IT is very important that in doing so you do not make silly, hyperbolic accusations about the power of others to mislead.
    Lest you think that I am being overly biased in this criticism of Laborites, I say the same about right wingers who inevitably blame the left-wing MSM any time the left wing has any public success.
    The thing is that if the average party supporter can see that the media is often biased, then don’t they think that the average non-committed voter can do so too? Passionate political partisans on both sides need to stop thinking of voters as stupid or misled and just face the fact that most of us just aren’t particularly worried about politics.

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