Leader of the Opposition (Victoria)
| Leader of the Opposition | |
|---|---|
| Term length | While leader of the largest political party not in government |
| Inaugural holder | George Prendergast |
| Formation | 1904 |
| Deputy | Peter Walsh |
The government. They are always a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Prior to 1904, opposition to the government of the day was less organised. Thus, the Victorian Parliamentary Record does not designate Leaders of the Opposition before then. The leader acts as the public face of the opposition, leading the opposition on the floor of parliament. They act as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government.
The office is currently held by John Pesutto after his
Liberal Party
in December 2022.
List of leaders of the opposition in Victoria
This is an list of leaders of the opposition in Victoria.[1]
| No. | Name | Portrait | Party | Constituency | Term of office | Tenure | Elections | Premier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Prendergast | 
|
Labor
|
North Melbourne | 7 June 1904 | 17 September 1913 | 9 years, 102 days | 1904 | Bent 1904–1909 | ||
| 1907 | |||||||||||
| 1908 | |||||||||||
| 1911 | Murray 1909–1912 | ||||||||||
| – | Watt 1912–1913 | ||||||||||
| 2 | George Elmslie[2]
|
|
Labor
|
Albert Park | 17 September 1913 | 9 December 1913 | 83 days | – | |||
| 3 | William Watt | .jpg)
|
Commonwealth Liberal
|
Essendon | 9 December 1913 | 22 December 1913 | 13 days | – | Elmslie 1913 | ||
| (2) | George Elmslie[2]
|
|
Labor
|
Albert Park | 22 December 1913 | 11 May 1918 | 4 years, 140 days | – | Watt 1913–1914 | ||
| 1914 | Peacock 1914–1917 | ||||||||||
| 1917 | Bowser 1917–1918 | ||||||||||
| – | Lawson 1918–1924 | ||||||||||
| (1) | George Prendergast[3] |
|
Labor
|
North Melbourne | 18 June 1918 | 18 July 1924 | 6 years, 30 days | 1920 | |||
| 1921 | |||||||||||
| 1924 | Peacock 1924 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Alexander Peacock | 
|
Nationalist
|
Allandale | 18 July 1924 | 18 November 1924 | 123 days | – | Prendergast 1924 | ||
| (1) | George Prendergast |
|
Labor
|
North Melbourne | 18 November 1924 | 14 April 1926 | 1 year, 147 days | – | Allan 1924–1927 | ||
| 5 | Edmond Hogan[4] | 
|
Labor
|
Warrenheip | 14 April 1926 | 20 May 1927 | 1 year, 36 days | 1927 | |||
| 6 | William McPherson | 
|
Nationalist
|
Hawthorn | 20 May 1927 | 22 November 1928 | 1 year, 186 days | – | Hogan 1927–1928 | ||
| (5) | Edmond Hogan |
|
Labor
|
Warrenheip and Grenville | 22 November 1928 | 12 December 1929 | 1 year, 20 days | 1929 | McPherson 1928–1929 | ||
| (6) | William McPherson |
|
Nationalist
|
Hawthorn | 12 December 1929 | 3 September 1930 | 265 days | – | Hogan 1929–1932 | ||
| 7 | Stanley Argyle | .png)
|
Nationalist
|
Toorak | 3 September 1930 | 19 May 1932 | 1 year, 259 days | – | |||
| United Australia | 1932 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Tom Tunnecliffe | 
|
Labor
|
Collingwood | 13 July 1932 | 2 April 1935 | 2 years, 263 days | 1935 | Argyle 1932–1935 | ||
| (7) | Stanley Argyle |
|
United Australia | Toorak | 2 April 1935 | 23 November 1940 | 5 years, 235 days | 1937 | Dunstan 1935–1943 | ||
| 1940 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Thomas Hollway | 
|
United Australia | Ballarat | 23 November 1940 | 14 September 1943 | 2 years, 295 days | 1943 | |||
| 10 | Albert Dunstan | .jpg)
|
United Country
|
Korong and Eaglehawk | 14 September 1943 | 18 September 1943 | 4 days | – | Cain 1943 | ||
| 11 | John Cain
|
|
Labor
|
Northcote | 18 September 1943 | 21 November 1945 | 2 years, 64 days | – | Dunstan 1943–1945 | ||
| 1945 | Macfarlan 1945 | ||||||||||
| 12 | John McDonald | 
|
United Country
|
Shepparton | 21 November 1945 | 20 November 1947 | 1 year, 364 days | 1947 | Cain 1945–1947 | ||
| (11) | John Cain
|
|
Labor
|
Northcote | 20 November 1947 | 7 December 1948 | 1 year, 17 days | – | Hollway 1947–1950 | ||
| (12) | John McDonald |
|
Country
|
Shepparton | 7 December 1948 | 27 June 1950 | 1 year, 202 days | 1950 | |||
| (9) | Thomas Hollway |
|
Liberal and Country
|
Ballarat | 27 June 1950 | 5 December 1951 | 1 year, 161 days | – | McDonald 1950–1952 | ||
| 13 | Les Norman | 
|
Liberal and Country
|
Glen Iris | 5 December 1951 | 23 July 1952 | 231 days | – | |||
| (11) | John Cain
|
|
Labor
|
Northcote | 23 July 1952 | 17 December 1952 | 147 days | – | |||
| – | Hollway 1952 | ||||||||||
| 1952 | McDonald 1952 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Trevor Oldham | 
|
Liberal and Country
|
Malvern | 17 December 1952 | 2 May 1953 | 136 days | – | Cain 1952–1955 | ||
| 15 | Henry Bolte | 
|
Liberal and Country
|
Hampden | 3 June 1953 | 7 June 1955 | 2 years, 4 days | 1955 | |||
| (11) | John Cain
|
|
Labor
|
Northcote | 8 June 1955 | 4 August 1957 | 2 years, 57 days | – | Bolte 1955–1972 | ||
| 16 | Ernie Shepherd | 
|
Labor
|
Ascot Vale Footscray |
20 August 1957 | 12 September 1958[5] | 1 year, 23 days | 1958 | |||
| 17 | Clive Stoneham | 
|
Labor
|
Midlands | 7 October 1958 | 15 May 1967[6] | 8 years, 220 days | 1961 | |||
| 1964 | |||||||||||
| 1967 | |||||||||||
| 18 | Clyde Holding | 
|
Labor
|
Richmond | 15 May 1967 | 29 June 1977 | 10 years, 45 days | 1970 | |||
| 1973 | Hamer 1972–1981 | ||||||||||
| 1976 | |||||||||||
| 19 | Frank Wilkes |
|
Labor
|
Northcote | 29 June 1977 | 9 September 1981[6] | 4 years, 72 days | 1979 | |||
| – | Thompson 1981–1982 | ||||||||||
| 20 | John Cain | 
|
Labor
|
Bundoora | 9 September 1981 | 8 April 1982 | 211 days | 1982 | |||
| 21 | Lindsay Thompson | .jpg)
|
Liberal
|
Malvern | 8 April 1982 | 5 November 1982 | 211 days | – | Cain 1982–1990 | ||
| 22 | Jeff Kennett | 
|
Liberal
|
Burwood | 5 November 1982 | 23 May 1989 | 6 years, 199 days | 1985 | |||
| 1988 | |||||||||||
| 23 | Alan Brown |
|
Liberal
|
Gippsland West | 23 May 1989 | 23 April 1991 | 1 year, 335 days | – | |||
| – | Kirner 1990–1992 | ||||||||||
| (22) | Jeff Kennett |
|
Liberal
|
Burwood | 23 April 1991 | 6 October 1992 | 1 year, 166 days | 1992 | |||
| 24 | Joan Kirner | 
|
Labor
|
Williamstown | 6 October 1992 | 22 March 1993 | 167 days | – | Kennett 1992–1999 | ||
| 25 | Jim Kennan |
|
Labor
|
Broadmeadows | 22 March 1993 | 29 June 1993 | 99 days | – | |||
| 26 | John Brumby | 
|
Labor
|
Broadmeadows | 14 July 1993 | 22 March 1999 | 5 years, 251 days | 1996 | |||
| 27 | Steve Bracks | 
|
Labor
|
Williamstown | 22 March 1999 | 20 October 1999 | 212 days | 1999 | |||
| (22) | Jeff Kennett |
|
Liberal
|
Burwood | 20 October 1999 | 26 October 1999 | 6 days | – | Bracks 1999–2007 | ||
| 28 | Denis Napthine | 
|
Liberal
|
Portland | 26 October 1999 | 20 August 2002 | 2 years, 298 days | – | |||
| 29 | Robert Doyle | 
|
Liberal
|
Malvern | 20 August 2002 | 8 May 2006 | 3 years, 261 days | 2002 | |||
| 30 | Ted Baillieu | 
|
Liberal
|
Hawthorn | 8 May 2006 | 2 December 2010 | 4 years, 208 days | 2006 | |||
| 2010 | Brumby 2007–2010 | ||||||||||
| 31 | Daniel Andrews | 
|
Labor
|
Mulgrave | 3 December 2010 | 4 December 2014 | 4 years, 1 day | – | Baillieu 2010–2013 | ||
| 2014 | Napthine 2013–2014 | ||||||||||
| 32 | Matthew Guy | 
|
Liberal
|
Bulleen | 4 December 2014 | 6 December 2018 | 4 years, 2 days | 2018 | Andrews 2014–2023 | ||
| 33 | Michael O'Brien | 
|
Liberal
|
Malvern | 6 December 2018 | 7 September 2021 | 2 years, 275 days | – | |||
| (32) | Matthew Guy |
|
Liberal
|
Bulleen | 7 September 2021 | 8 December 2022 | 1 year, 92 days | 2022 | |||
| 34 | John Pesutto | 
|
Liberal
|
Hawthorn | 8 December 2022 | Incumbent | 1 year, 174 days | – | |||
| – | Allan 2023– | ||||||||||
References
- Government of Victoria (Australia).
- ^ a b "VICTORIAN POLITICS". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 18 September 1913. p. 15. Retrieved 5 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
- The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times. TAS. 19 June 1918. p. 3. Retrieved 5 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "VICTORIAN LABOR PARTY". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 15 April 1926. p. 16. Retrieved 5 July 2011 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "New Leader For Victorian Labour". The Canberra Times. 21 August 1957. p. 11. Retrieved 16 November 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search".
