Katharine Murphy theguardian.com, Monday 9 September 2013
Who will fill the void Kevin Rudd left? Katharine Murphy weighs up the prospects of the most hotly-tipped candidates
Anthony Albanese
Photograph: Penny Bradfield/guardian.co.uk
The Labor leftwinger from New South Wales was deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd. Albanese was active in restoring Rudd to the Labor leadership, but despite that, retains productive relations with key supporters of Julia Gillard. He is under pressure internally to step up because he is regarded as a strong parliamentary performer and tactician who can take the fight to Tony Abbott in this early period of opposition, and because he would safeguard key elements of the policy legacy, including the carbon price. If a ballot took place under the new caucus rules, which split a vote between MPs and party members, Albanese would have strong support in the left-dominated inner-city ALP branches.
Bill Shorten
Photograph: Mike Bowers/Global Mail
The ambitious Victorian rightwinger has long been regarded internally as a future leader of the party, and late in the 2013 campaign was considered by colleagues as the "next generation" figure most likely to replace Rudd post-election. Shorten is regarded as an effective political communicator, an assiduous networker, and a solid media performer. Shorten has also publicly argued that Labor should insist that it has a post-election mandate to safeguard carbon pricing.
Chris Bowen
Photograph: AAP
The NSW rightwinger was a key Rudd backer, and was the treasurer after Rudd returned to the party leadership. Bowen is considered a strong "next generation" prospect for Labor, intelligent and hard-working. There has been talk of a future leadership ticket with Bowen as leader and South Australian leftwinger Mark Butler as deputy leader. Bowen ruled himself out of leadership contention on Monday, arguing this was not the right time in the cycle for him to step up.
Tanya Plibersek
Photograph: Mike Bowers/Global Mail
The leftwinger from NSW and former Gillard supporter has a strong public profile. Plibersek is hard-working, in command of the detail, and a very strong media performer. Like Albanese, she would have significant support among grassroots ALP members.
The Labor leadership contenders | World news | theguardian.com
