Just months out from the state election, Labor has replaced Jacinta Allan with her deputy, Ben Carroll, as the party’s leader and Victoria’s next premier.
Ben Carroll announced on Monday that he would challenge Jacinta Allan for the leadership position. Allan said yesterday that she would stand to retain the role, but this morning she announced her resignation.
Allan served as Victoria’s premier for two years and ten months after taking over the reins from Daniel Andrews.
Carroll will become the state’s fiftieth premier and will have only a few months to establish himself before Victorians head to the polls in November.
Before entering Parliament, Carroll worked as a lawyer and as a political adviser to former premier Steve Bracks. He was first elected to Parliament at a by-election in 2012.
He became a minister in the Andrews government in 2017, overseeing the Industry and Employment portfolio. He later served in a range of ministerial positions covering crime prevention, corrections, victim support, road safety and public transport.
When Allan became premier in October 2023, Carroll was appointed Deputy Premier and also served as Education Minister.
Although Carroll had recently ruled out challenging Allan for the leadership, he said in a video that he decided to run after colleagues approached him with concerns about the government’s direction under Allan’s leadership. Carroll said it had become clear that the party needed to move in a new direction.
