Jacinta Allan resigns as Victorian premier ahead of leadership challenge by Ben Carroll

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced her resignation from the top job, after a tumultuous 48 hours for Labor just four months out from the state election.Allan on Monday had vowed to challenge for the leadership after a group of MPs told her she no longer had the support of caucus and urged her to stand down. The deputy premier, Ben Carroll, also confirmed he would nominate for the Labor leadership on Monday.Allan said on Tuesday morning that Carroll would have her “unqualified support”.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailSpeaking ahead of the party room meeting on Tuesday, Allan said she had decided to step aside – despite believing she would have won a leadership ballot – because it was “the right thing” to do for Labor and the Victorian people.“After speaking with my colleagues overnight, I have made the difficult decision to step aside as leader of the Victorian state parliamentary Labor party, and as premier of Victoria,” Allan said.“I was prepared to put my record and my plan to a ballot of members as our rules allow. I believe I would have won. But doing this so this close to an election takes up valuable resources, including the most precious one – time.”A contested leadership would have meant weeks of instability in the run-up to the election, as the party’s balloting process can take up to six weeks.Allan said she would instead chair Tuesday’s caucus meeting to elect a new leader.The backdown leaves the path clear for Carroll to become leader unopposed, and prevents a protracted voting process including the broader Labor membership on the cusp of the state election. No byelection will be triggered by her resignation, given it is happening so close to an election.Speculation about a leadership spill had been swirling for months, and momentum had been building before parliament rose for a winter break in June. Poor polling and Allan’s weak personal approval ratings contributed to the push, along with rising support for One Nation.Allan’s leadership has also been dogged by allegations of wrongdoing on the Big Build, as she was the minister responsible for transport infrastructure at the time. While she has apologised for criminal conduct that has been uncovered, she has also rejected calls for a royal commission. This is understood to have put her at odds with a number of MPs who believed the issue could not be contained without one.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionCarroll is understood to be in favour of a royal commission. He has also indicated that he believes he’d be better able to resolve the pay dispute between the government and public school teachers, improve the party’s economic credentials and do more to support businesses.Carroll had long been touted as a potential challenger for the leadership, but has consistently ruled out doing so. As recently as June, he looked Allan in the eye and declared he would not challenge her.Under Labor’s rules, a contested leadership triggers an election process in which both the parliamentary caucus and rank-and-file Labor members vote, and can take a full six weeks to complete.Arriving at parliament on Tuesday morning, Carroll made only a brief statement to reporters, saying his focus was on talking to his colleagues.Minister Steve Dimopoulos, a key supporter of Allan, refused to comment on the spill before Tuesday’s caucus meeting, but said: “I think the party has been good at sorting things out, this is what today will be.” He continued: “The premier’s always had my support but there’s a process today that will work that out.”Former health minister Mary-Anne Thomas, who earlier this year announced she would resign at the November election, said she would not support a spill, saying Allan had “served this state with real leadership. She’s always had the people of Victoria at the heart of everything that she does.”The energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, another key backer of Allan, said the premier had her full support.The environment minister, Enver Erdogan, told reporters on Tuesday morning there was a “case for change”. “I think we know some of these issues have been aired publicly, but I think we need stronger action on crime and corruption in the state.”Asked whether there needed to be a royal commission into allegations of corruption on Big Build construction sites, he replied: “Yes.”More details soon …