Ruthless Kevin Rudd takes his revenge on Julia Gillard
The new Labor leader may have triumphed in his three-year battle against Julia Gillard, but he faces a monumental task to win over the voters
When Kevin Rudd was swept to power as Australian prime minister in 2007, the Putonghua-speaking former diplomat was the largely unknown but seemingly genial face of progressive politics.
Six years later, Australians know him as a ruthless adversary who waged a three-year leadership struggle to topple Julia Gillard after she ousted him amid plummeting Labor support in 2010.
Rudd, 55, knows better than anyone the monumental job facing his party to regain the trust of voters, who polls show have grown weary of Labor infighting.
Rudd also has to regain the trust of his own bitterly divided party, in which many MPs switched allegiance to Gillard in the first place in frustration over his imperious leadership style and chaotic decision-making.
In November 2007, he and Gillard together brought the Labor Party back to power in a landslide after 12 years in the political wilderness.
Rudd consistently topped opinion polls in an enduring love affair with the Australian public until the ardour cooled before the elections in 2010 and Gillard pounced.
Gillard's ousting of Rudd characterised her climb to power, but she had to fight off repeated challenges. Getting things done was never straightforward for Gillard, who won only the narrowest of victories in the 2010 election, resulting in a hung parliament which forced her to cobble together a minority government with the support of independents.