2019 Australian Labor Party leadership election|
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A leadership election was held in May 2019 to determine the successor to Bill Shorten as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition. Shorten announced his pending resignation on 18 May, following Labor's surprise defeat in the 2019 federal election.[1][2] The leadership was confirmed unopposed; Anthony Albanese was elected as Leader, with Richard Marles elected Deputy Leader.[3]
The day after the election, Albanese, a member of the party's left-faction, announced his candidacy for the leadership.[4] He had run for the role in the party's previous leadership election in 2013 though was defeated by Bill Shorten. On 21 May Chris Bowen announced he would also contest the ballot; however the next day he announced his withdrawal, citing lack of support among the party membership.[5] Several other Labor MPs such as Tanya Plibersek and Jim Chalmers considered nominating for the leadership, though decided not to stand. Albanese was the only person to have declared his candidacy at the time when nominations closed on 27 May 2019.[3] Consequently, he was formally appointed to the role when the Labor Party caucus met later on 30 May; at which point Shorten's leadership expired and Albanese's term commenced.[6]
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