Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard won a decisive victory on Monday against Kevin Rudd, the party leader she ousted two years ago, in a ballot of Labor Party lawmakers that she had ordered in hopes of quelling dissent within her unpopular government. Gillard defeated Rudd by a margin of 71 votes to 31, official Chris Hayes announced after the meeting. The media had earlier incorrectly reported the result as 73 to 29. Supporters of both candidates had anticipated Rudd gaining about a third of the votes. Rudd vowed that if he lost the ballot, he would stay in politics at least until next year's elections, but he stated he would not challenge her leadership again.
Gillard called for the leadership ballot within her ruling party last week, shortly after Rudd resigned as foreign minister, aiming to confirm her authority following simmering leadership tensions that have destabilized the government for months. A narrow victory could have left her vulnerable to another challenge if Labor continued to trail the conservative opposition coalition in opinion polls. Two years ago, Gillard was deputy prime minister when she made an unexpected challenge to Rudd’s leadership. When Rudd realized how few lawmakers were prepared to support him at the time, he did not contest the ballot, and Gillard became prime minister without a vote.