After 48 hours of acrimony, Ben Carroll’s U-turn for the ages needs to set Victoria on a new course

‘The main challenge for Carroll now is to convince voters that while he inherits Jacinta Allan’s government he will not simply continue it.’ Composite: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design View image in fullscreen ‘The main challenge for Carroll now is to convince voters that while he inherits Jacinta Allan’s government he will not simply continue it.’ Composite: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design Analysis After 48 hours of acrimony, Ben Carroll’s U-turn for the ages needs to set Victoria on a new course Benita Kolovos The newly minted premier must convince voters that he doesn’t represent more of the same Will a new premier save Victorian Labor? - Full Story podcast Who is Ben Carroll? Ben Carroll had hoped to quietly rise to the top job. Instead, he became Victoria’s 50th premier after 48 hours of heated confrontations and shouting matches, all as the public watched on. It was his first confrontation against the premier, and he emerged from it relatively unscathed. Unlike many leadership challengers, Carroll did not openly campaign against Allan. He only agreed to stand after a cross-factional delegation of MPs told him Allan had lost the confidence of the caucus and urged him to nominate . That allowed him to reconcile his change in position from just six weeks earlier, when he looked Allan in the eyes and told her he wouldn’t challenge her, adding that he wanted his daughter to see a woman elected premier in her own right. Jacinta Allan: how a ‘daughter of workers’ rose to Victorian premier – then came undone Read more “The circumstances changed. Yesterday morning, I was approached by a delegation who asked me to stand for leader. This delegation had already visited the premier and informed her that they wanted change. I’m going to be that change,” he said on Tuesday. Initially, Allan refused to concede defeat. On Monday, she publicly declared she would fight for the leadership and even formally nominated herself with the party’s state secretary, a step she was not required to take at that stage. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Had she persisted, Labor would have faced a bruising six-week leadership contest, with the outcome determined by both a caucus vote and a ballot of party members. It would have prolonged - and made even more public – the government’s internal infighting just months before an election. But by Tuesday morning, with the numbers decisively against her, Allan resigned. She insisted she believed she could have won a leadership ballot but said standing aside was “the right thing” for Labor and for Victorians, because she was a “team player”. That should have cleared the way for Carroll to be elected unopposed. Instead, the chaos escalated. The attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, one of Allan’s closest allies, unexpectedly nominated for the leadership, triggering a second confrontation. Raised voices from inside the caucus meeting could be heard from parliament’s hallways as MPs argued over the move. 6:11 ‘Change starts today’