Victorian Labor Party

Victorian Labor Party Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)
Leader	Jacinta Allan
Deputy Leader	Ben Carroll
President	Alice Smith
Secretary	Steve Staikos
Founded	1891; 133 years ago (1891)
Headquarters	438 Docklands Drive, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria
Youth wing	Young Labor
Women's wing	Labor Women's Network
LGBT wing	Rainbow Labor
Membership	<16,000[1]
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	Australian Labor
Union affiliate	Victorian Trades Hall Council
Colours	Red
Slogan	"Doing What Matters."
Legislative Assembly	54 / 88
Legislative Council	15 / 40
House of Representatives	25 / 39 (Victorian seats)
Senate	4 / 12 (Victorian seats)
Local government	20 / 656
Website
viclabor.com.au
Politics of Australia Political parties Elections

The Victorian Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch) and commonly referred to simply as Victorian Labor, is the Victorian state branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The party forms the incumbent government in the state of Victoria and is led by Jacinta Allan, who has served concurrently as Premier of Victoria since 2023.

Victorian Labor comprises two major wings: the parliamentary wing and the organisational wing. The parliamentary wing (formally referred to as the State Parliamentary Labor Party) comprises all elected party members in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, which when they meet collectively constitute the party caucus. The parliamentary leader is elected from and by the caucus, and party factions have a strong influence in the election of the leader. The leader's position is dependent on the continuing support of the caucus, and the leader may be deposed by failing to win a vote of confidence of parliamentary members. By convention, the Premier sits in the Legislative Assembly, and is the leader of the party controlling a majority in that house. The party leader also typically is a member of the Assembly, though this is not a strict party constitutional requirement.

When Victorian Labor wins sufficient seats to be able to control a majority in the Legislative Assembly, the party leader becomes the State Premier and Labor will form the Government of Victoria. When the party is not in government, the party leader becomes the Leader of the Opposition. To become a Premier or Opposition Leader, the party leader must be or within a short period of time become a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Jacinta Allan and Ben Carroll have been the leader and deputy leader respectively since 27 September 2023. At the 2014 state election, Victorian Labor obtained a majority with 47 of the 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and formed government. The party then increased its share of seats in the Assembly to 55 after the 2018 election. The party currently holds 15 of the 40 seats in the Legislative Council.

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While struggling to balance an uneasy alliance of trade unionists and progressive social reformers during the 1890s, the political labor movement in Victoria underwent several changes of name. It was called the Progressive Political League between 1891 and 1894, the United Labor and Liberal Party of Victoria from June 1894, the United Labor Party from 1896 and the Political Labor Council of Victoria from 1901; before becoming the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party.^[2]

Labor members were first elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1894, but the actual numbers are uncertain. They stood as part of the United Labor and Liberal Party, formed in 1894 to replace the Progressive Political League, which won 18 of the 95 seats.^[3] At the 1897 election Labor candidates stood as the United Labor Party and won 8 of the 95 seats, all of which had to be contested.^[4] Its representation went to 9 of the 95 seats at the 1900 election.^[5] Labor candidates contested the 1902 election as the Political Labor Council of Victoria and won 12 of the 95 seats.^[6]

At the 1904 election Labor won 17 of the 67 seats, becoming the second largest party in the Assembly, and became the Opposition. George Prendergast took over as leader of the parliamentary Labor party from Frederick Bromley after Bromley had resigned due to ill health six days after the election. At the 1907 election it slipped to 14 of 65 seats; and increased to 21 of 65 seats at the 1908 election. At the 1911 election Labor won 20 of the 65 seats, to 43 for the various factions of the Liberal Party. Prendergast resigned the leadership because of ill-health in 1913, to be succeeded by George Elmslie, who had been elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1902 and became deputy leader in 1912.

In December 1913, the Liberal Premier, William Watt, resigned after a dispute with the rural faction of his own party. The acting Governor, John Madden, surprised the Liberals by sending for Elmslie, who on 9 December formed Victoria's first Labor government. Elmslie's tenure as Premier lasted only 14 days, by which time the Liberal factions re-united, and Watt moved a no-confidence motion in Elmslie and resumed office on 22 December. Watt resigned in June 1914 to enter federal politics, and Alexander Peacock returned to leadership. The 1914 election was fought after World War I was declared, and Labor increased its seats to 22, while the Liberals retained 43.

The 1916 Labor split occurred over the issue of World War I conscription in Australia which saw pro-conscription Labor members expelled from the party and running as National Labor candidates at the 1917 election. That election also saw the emergence of the Victorian Farmers' Union (the forerunner of the Country Party) as a party. There was also a split in the Nationalist party into rural and city factions and both factions fielded their own candidates. However, Victoria introduced compulsory preferential voting before this election, and most of the preferences resulting from multiple Nationalist candidates were kept within the party. At that election, of the 65 seats, the pro-Ministerial city faction of the Nationalists won 13 seats, while the rural faction won 27. Labor won 18 seats, National Labor won 3 and the VFU won 4. After the election the rural Nationalist faction took control of the party, ousting Premier Alexander Peacock. The Nationalists reunited under Bowser. Elmslie died in 1918 and Prendergast returned to the party's leadership. At the 1920 election Labor won 20 seats to the Nationalists' 30. VFU became a force, holding the balance of power in the Legislative Assembly with 13 seats, a position it held until 1952. In 1920, it supported the conservative Nationalist government. In 1921, the VFU voted with Labor against the Nationalist government when it abolished the compulsory wheat pool operating in the state, leading to a dissolution of Parliament and the 1921 election, which maintained the same balance of power.

In April 1924, the VFU, now called the Country Party, again withdrew its support from the Nationalist government when it tried to legislate a reduction in the rural over-representation. Peacock, back in government, called the 1924 election in June, at which Labor won 27 seats, the Nationalists 20 and the Country Party 13. The Country Party supported the minority Labor government in exchange for a number of policy concessions. Prendergast became Premier at the age of 70 – the oldest man ever to take the office for the first time. The only real talents in his government were Edmond Hogan as Minister for Agriculture and Railways and William Slater as Attorney-General. John Cain was an Assistant Minister.^{[citation needed]} The Prendergast government was the first Labor government in Victoria able actually to govern. Immediate action was taken to provide shelter for unemployed Victorians, while the government set up royal commissions into the causes of a major police strike in 1923, the prices of bread and flour, and the soldier settlement scheme. Increased expenditure was made available for rural roads, while reductions were made on rail freights and fares. With the support of the Country Party, he was able to pass several bills assisting farmers, but the Country Party would not support anything which benefited Labor's urban working-class base. This was a frustrating situation for Labor ministers, and several urged Prendergast to call another election in the hope of improving their position, but Prendergast was too timid to run the risk. In November the Country Party patched up its differences with the Nationalists, and the two parties joined forces to defeat Prendergast in the Assembly. The Country Party leader, John Allan, succeeded him as Premier.^[7]

Labor in Victoria in the early federal period was much weaker than in the other states, and there had never been a majority Labor state government. This was partly due to the continuing attraction of Deakinite liberalism among middle-class voters in Melbourne, partly because Victoria did not have the huge pastoral and mining areas that the other mainland states had. The Parliamentary Labor Party remained small and contained limited talent. Victoria was Labor's weakest state throughout the 1920s, due to the gross over-representation of rural areas in the Legislative Assembly, and the strength of the Country Party in rural areas and the Nationalist Party in middle-class Melbourne seats. Labor's parliamentary representation was confined to the industrial areas of Melbourne and a few provincial towns. There was little talent in the Parliamentary Labor Party and few regarded Prendergast as likely ever to win a state election.^{[citation needed]} Most notably, however, the lack of a Labor majority government was due to the high degree of rural over-representation existing in the state's electoral system, which strongly favoured rural electorates to the disadvantage of inner-city electorates, where Labor's vote was concentrated.

Hogan had been elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1913. His was not a natural Labor seat, but it was heavily Irish-Catholic, which helped Hogan, an active Catholic, retain it. In 1914 he was elected to the Labor Party's state executive and in 1922 he became State President. Prendergast resigned as Labor leader in 1926 and was succeeded by Hogan.

Hogan was a fine speaker and soon became a leading figure in a parliamentary party which was thin on talent. Victoria was Labor's weakest state and in the 1920s there seemed little chance it would ever win a state election. When Prendergast stepped down in 1926, Hogan was the obvious choice to succeed him. His main drawback was his close association with the Melbourne horse-racing, boxing and gambling identity John Wren, who was widely suspected of corruption. The Wren connection alienated many middle-class voters from Labor through the 1920s and 1930s.

Nevertheless, at the 1927 election Hogan was able to capitalise on resentment against rural over-representation in the state Parliament and consequent domination by the Country Party. Labor won 28 seats to the Nationalists 15 and the Country Party's ten. Hogan was able to form a minority government with the support of the four Country Progressive Party and two Liberal members. But this alliance broke down in 1928 in the face a prolonged and violent industrial dispute on the Melbourne waterfront, and in November he was defeated in a confidence vote and resigned, being succeeded by the Nationalist William McPherson with the support of the Country Party.

In 1929 the Country Party withdrew its support from the McPherson government, resulting in the 1929 election, fought just as the Great Depression was breaking over Australia. Hogan led Labor to its best result yet, winning 30 seats to the Nationalists' 17 and the Country Party's 11. A collection of Country Progressives, Liberals and independents held the balance, and they agreed to support a second Hogan government. Tom Tunnecliffe was Chief Secretary, John Cain was Minister for Railways and William Slater was Attorney-General.

The Great Depression in Australia had a devastating effect on Victoria's economy and society, since the state was heavily dependent on agricultural exports, mainly wheat and wool, for its income, and these industries collapsed almost completely as demand in Britain dried up. By 1931 most Victorian farmers were bankrupt and about 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed. Hogan's government, in common with all other governments, had no solution to this disaster. Even if the Labor government was minded to attempt radical solutions, it was dependent on Country Progressive support in the Assembly, and had only six members in the Legislative Council.

Hogan adopted the orthodox economic view that governments must balance their budgets, and since the Council would not permit any increases in taxation, the only way to do this in the face of falling government revenue was to cut expenditure. This increased the burdens on the poor and unemployed, while providing no stimulus to the economy. There was little possibility of effective unemployment relief, although there were some government works to soak up unemployment, such as the Shrine of Remembrance and the Great Ocean Road.

In August 1930 Hogan attended a conference with the other Premiers and the Labor Prime Minister, James Scullin, to consider what to do. On the advice of Sir Otto Niemeyer, a senior official of the Bank of England (which controlled most of Victoria's access to credit in the City of London), they agreed to radical cuts to government spending and borrowing. This provoked a storm of protest in the Labor Party and trade unions, who regarded Scullin and Hogan as traitors.

A second conference in June 1931 produced the Premiers' Plan, which entailed further cuts in government spending, accompanied by increases in taxation on the wealthy. In the circumstances both of these measures further depressed the economy, while not satisfying either side of politics. The 1931 Labor split occurred, with a breakaway NSW Labor Party led by Jack Lang rebelled and brought down the Scullin government in November, but Hogan survived with Country Party continued support from the cross benches. In any case the Nationalists, now renamed the United Australia Party (UAP) preferred to see Hogan implement the Premiers' Plan.

In February 1932 Hogan traveled to London to talk to the banks about Victoria's desperate economic plight. While he was away Tom Tunnecliffe was acting Premier, and he was much more willing than Hogan to reject the Premiers' Plan. As a result, the Country Party withdrew its support, and in April the government was defeated in a confidence vote. Tunnecliffe replaced Hogan as Labor leader and led the Labor campaign in May 1932 election, now rejecting the Premiers' Plan completely. The Labor Party Executive expelled everyone who had supported the Premiers' Plan, including Hogan, although it did not run a candidate against him. At the elections the UAP won 31 seats to Labor's 16 and the reunited Country Party's 14. Hogan and one of his ex-ministers were elected as "Premiers' Plan Labor" candidates. UAP leader Stanley Argyle became Premier.

After sitting as an independent for four years, Hogan joined the Country Party in 1935, and formed a close relationship with the Country Party leader Albert Dunstan. The result was a renewed alliance between the Country Party and Labor, brokered by Hogan, John Wren and the Victorian Labor State President, Arthur Calwell. In April 1935 Dunstan walked out of Argyle's government, and became Premier with Labor support. Hogan became Minister for Agriculture and Mines, and held these posts through Dunstan's record term as Premier until September 1943.

John Cain I was assistant minister for agriculture in the short-lived minority Prendergast Labor government in 1924, a minister without portfolio in the first minority Hogan Labor government (1927–28), and minister for railways and for electrical undertakings in the second Hogan government (1929–32). When Hogan's government collapsed during the Great Depression and Hogan himself was expelled from the Labor Party, Cain became party deputy leader under Tunnecliffe. Cain succeeded Tunnecliffe as Labor leader in 1937. Under both Tunnecliffe and Cain, Labor supported the Dunstan minority Country Party government from 1935 to 1943. At the 1943 election, Labor, now led by John Cain, benefiting from the popularity of John Curtin's wartime federal government, won 22 of the 65 seats.

Dunstan resigned on 14 September 1943 and John Cain formed government, which lasted only 4 days.^[8] The conservative parties resolved their differences and Dunstan resumed office and retained it with Labor support until November 1945, when Dunstan resigned again. Cain again became premier on 21 November 1945. Labor's lower house parliamentary position was much better than it had been in 1943, since the 1945 election had given Labor 31 seats to the Country Party's 18 and the Liberals' 13, with three independents. With a majority in neither House, Cain's government was unable to pass much legislation. On 2 October 1947 the Victorian Legislative Council blocked his government's budget to show its opposition to the federal Labor government of Ben Chifley, which had announced plans to nationalise the private banks. Although this issue had nothing to do with state politics, Cain was forced to resign and call the 1947 election for 8 November, at which Labor was heavily defeated.^[8] The 1950 election gave Labor 24 seats to the Liberals' 27 and the Country Party's 13. Since the Liberals and Country Party hated each other, no stable majority government was possible, and this, together with the unpopularity of the new federal Liberal government, gave Cain his opportunity. In October 1952 the Country Party premier, John McDonald, resigned and called the 1952 election. Labor won 37 seats, the first time it had won a majority in the lower house, and Cain formed his third government.

Cain's government was hampered by the hostility of the Legislative Council (which until 1950 had been elected on a restricted property-based franchise and so always had a conservative majority), and also by tensions within his own party. During the war the Communist Party had grown greatly in strength in the trade unions which controlled and funded the Labor Party, leading a faction of anti-Communist Catholics to form within the party to fight Communist influence. (This body, known as The Movement, was organised by B. A. Santamaria and supported by the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Daniel Mannix). Conflict between left and right in the Labor Party grew increasingly bitter in the Cold War atmosphere of the 1950s.

Nevertheless, the Cain government was able to pass more legislation than any previous Labor government in Victoria had done. Major reforms were carried out in the areas of workers' compensation, tenancy law, long service leave, hospitals, public transport, housing, charities and the Crimes Act. Changes included the provision on long-service leave to railway workers, increased eligibility to workers' compensation, alterations to the Shops and Factories Act and the Landlord and Tenant Act, and the introduction of legislation "to penalize rogues who resorted to fraudulent misrepresentation in soliciting corporate investment from the public."

The government had also reformed wage determination procedures and public service administration, while constructive initiatives were carried out in adult education and soil conservation.^[9] Even some reforms to the electoral system were carried through the Council, where Labor and Liberal members united to reduce the malapportionment which had given the Country Party disproportionate representation since the 1920s. In its first two years the Cain government won the approval of the Melbourne daily papers The Age, The Herald and The Argus. Nevertheless, Cain's third Government fell on 19 April 1955 when 19 expelled Labor lower house members aligned to "The Movement" "crossed the floor" against the government in a no-confidence vote.^[8]

The 1955 Labor split began in October 1954 after the federal leader, Dr H. V. Evatt, blamed Santamaria and his supporters in the Victorian Labor Party for Labor's loss of seats at the 1954 federal election. Santamaria exercised strong influence in the Cain government through "Movement" linked ministers such as Bill Barry and Frank Scully. Protestant and left-wing ministers strongly opposed the Movement faction. In December 1953 the Lands Minister, Robert Holt, resigned rather than introduce a Santamaria-influenced bill which would have promoted the settlement of Italian immigrants as small farmers in Gippsland.

In early 1955 the Labor Party's federal executive dissolved the state executive and began to expel Santamaria's supporters from the party. The Victorian branch then split between pro-Evatt and pro-Santamaria factions, and in March the pro-Evatt State Executive suspended 24 members of State Parliament suspected of being Santamaria supporters. Four ministers were forced to resign from the government. When the Parliament met on 19 April 19 expelled Labor members crossed over to vote with the Liberal and Country Party members to defeat the government. At the ensuing May 1955 election, the expelled members and others stood as the Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist), later the Democratic Labor Party. Their strategy was to draw votes from the Labor Party and direct preferences to the Liberal Party. Labor was heavily defeated, winning only 20 seats, from the 37 at the 1952 election, to the Liberals' 34 and the Country Party's ten. Only one of the expelled Labor members was re-elected.

Cain suffered a stroke on 9 August 1957 and died, aged 75. Alfred Ernest "Ernie" Shepherd (1901–58) succeeded Cain as party leader, only to die himself little more than a year afterwards. From 1958 to 1967 Clive Stoneham was Labor and Opposition Leader. He lost the 1961, 1964 and 1967 elections to the incumbent Liberal Premier, Henry Bolte, with the electoral assistance of the Democratic Labor Party, which directed its preferences to the Liberals.

Clyde Holding became party leader in 1967. During the 1970 state election campaign, which some commentators suggested Labor could win as a result of voter fatigue with the Liberals after their 15 years in power, Holding campaigned on the new federal policy of supporting state aid to non-government schools. However, in the week before the election, the left-wing state president, George Crawford and state secretary, Bill Hartley, issued a statement saying that a Victorian Labor government would not support state aid. As a result, federal leader Gough Whitlam refused to campaign for Labor in Victoria, and Holding was forced to repudiate his own policy. At the election, the Bolte government was returned.

This episode led directly to federal intervention in the Victorian branch of the Labor Party. In 1971 the left-wing leadership was overturned by the National Executive and allies of Whitlam, Hawke and Holding took control. The left then formed an organised faction, the Socialist Left, to agitate for socialist policies, supported by some unions. This continuing conflict in the party made it difficult for Holding to oppose the Liberal government effectively.^{[citation needed]} The surge in support for federal Labor which saw Whitlam elected Prime Minister in 1972 was not reflected in Victorian state politics. Bolte retired in 1972, and his successor, Dick Hamer, comfortably won the 1973 and 1976 state elections. Frank Wilkes became party leader in 1977. At the 1979 state election, Labor under Wilkes gained eleven seats, the party's best showing for many years,^[10] though not sufficient to form government.

John Cain II, son of the former Labor premier, became party leader in September 1981, and won the 1982 election, winning 49 of the 81 seats in the Legislative Assembly, forming a Labor government for the first time since 1955. In 1984 the Labor government legalised prostitution in Victoria.

At the 1985 election Labor won 47 of the 88 seats; and 46 seats at the 1988 election. Cain's political support collapsed in August 1990. By this time the Labor government was in deep crisis, with some of the state's financial institutions on the brink of insolvency, the budget deficit unsustainably high and growing and the Labor Party deeply divided on how to respond to the situation.

Cain resigned and Joan Kirner was elected Labor leader, becoming the party's first female leader and Victoria's first female premier. The party hoped that the elevation of a popular woman as its new leader would improve its position, but Kirner never succeeded in gaining control of the crisis into which the state had plunged. The conservative-leaning Melbourne newspaper, the Herald Sun, reacted unfavourably to a premier from the Socialist Left, dubbing her "Mother Russia". She was lampooned alternatively as a sinister commissar and as a frumpy housewife in a polka dot dress. She seemed unfazed by the Herald Sun and gradually won some respect, though she was unable to improve significantly the government's standing.

During 1991 and 1992 Kirner took several decisions to cut government spending and raise revenue to some extent. However, her government failed to cut spending in many areas including education. Most of the Kirner government's attempts to cut spending were actively opposed by trade unions and some members of the government. The interest bill alone was $3.5 billion per year,^[11] the government sold off trains and trams and leased them back. Another decision was the sale in 1991 of the state-owned State Bank of Victoria, now on the verge of collapse, to the Commonwealth Bank.^[12]

Liberal leader Alan Brown persuaded the Nationals to contest the next election as a Coalition,^[13] the first time the two main non-Labor parties in Victoria had fought an election together since 1950, before Brown was deposed as Liberal leader by Jeff Kennett in 1991. Kirner went into 1992 knowing she faced a statutory general election, one which opinion polls gave her virtually no chance of winning. She waited as long as she could, finally calling an election for October. It was obvious as soon as the writs were dropped that Labor would not win a fourth term. Although she remained personally more popular than Kennett, it was not nearly enough to overcome the electorate's anger at her party. The Coalition's "Guilty Party" campaign did much to stoke this anger, targeting many ministers in the Kirner Government and providing examples of concerns in their portfolios. The Coalition won the election in a landslide, scoring a 19-seat swing – the second-worst defeat that a sitting government has ever suffered in Victoria. The Liberals won enough seats that they could have governed in their own right. Kirner remained Opposition Leader until March 1993 and resigned from Parliament in May 1994.

Jim Kennan was a member of parliament between 1982 and 1993, initially in the Victorian Legislative Council, and then in the Legislative Assembly and was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1990 to 1992. He became the Leader of the Opposition after Kirner resigned in March 1993, until his shock retirement from Parliament three months later.

Kennan was succeeded as leader by John Brumby, who was a member of the Legislative Council at the time. Brumby transferred to the Legislative Assembly in a by-election for Kennan's seat. The defeat of the federal Labor government in March 1996 prompted Kennett to call an early state election three weeks later. Labor led by Brumby only managed a net two-seat gain, leaving it 20 seats behind the Coalition. Brumby was replaced as Labor leader in March 1999 by Steve Bracks. To everyone's surprise, Bracks won the September 1999 election,^[14] which produced a hung parliament and the independents agreed to support the minority Labor government. Labor won the 2002 state election in a landslide, taking 62 seats out of 88 in the Legislative Assembly, also winning a slim majority in the Legislative Council. In 2002, Labor reformed the Legislative Council and brought in four-year fixed-term parliaments.^[15] Labor made inroads towards same-sex equality in Victoria. Since 2001, Victorian Labor governments have amended 60 Acts to advance same-sex equality.

Labor won a third term at the 2006 state election. Bracks resigned as party leader and Premier on 27 July 2007, and Labor deputy leader, John Thwaites also announced his resignation on the same day. John Brumby was elected unopposed Labor leader on 30 July 2007 and became Premier. One notable achievement of the Brumby government was abortion law reform in 2008. It also signed contracts for the Wonthaggi desalination plant in 2009, to drought-proof the State.

At the 2010 state election Labor was narrowly defeated, winning only 43 of the 88 Legislative Assembly seats.

Brumby resigned as party leader soon after the Labor loss at the 2010 state election, to be replaced by Daniel Andrews on 3 December 2010.

After being in Opposition for one term, Labor won the 2014 state election from the Napthine Government, winning 47 seats in the Legislative Assembly. On winning office, the Andrews government cancelled the East West Link project and initiated the Level Crossing Removal program and the Melbourne Metro Rail project. On 24 May 2016 Andrews made an official apology in parliament for gay men in Victoria punished during the time homosexuality was a crime in the state.^[16] In September 2016, the Andrews government privatized the Port of Melbourne for a term of 50 years in return for more than $9.7 billion,^[17] to be used for infrastructure improvements.

At the 2018 state election, the Andrews Government was returned for a second term with an increased majority, winning 55 seats in the Legislative Assembly,^[18] and 18 of the 40 seats in the Legislative Council.

At the 2022 state election, the Andrews Government was returned for a third term with a further increase in their majority, winning 56 seats in the Legislative Assembly,^[19] and a decreased 15 out of the 40 seats in the Legislative Council.

On 14 June 2020, The Age and Nine Network released covert recordings purporting to show state minister Adem Somyurek organising branch stacking within Victorian Labor. ^[20]

On 17 June 2020, former Labor Premier Steve Bracks and former federal Labor deputy leader Jenny Macklin were appointed as administrators of Victorian Labor by the party's National Executive until early 2021. The pair will review the state party’s operations and provide detailed recommendations to tackle the issue of branch-stacking within the party.^[21] Additionally, voting rights of all members were suspended and preselection processes in Victoria will be controlled by the National Executive until 2023.

Shortly following the revelation, Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and Victorian Ombudsman (VO) announced a joint collaboration and investigation into branch stacking activities known as "Operation Watts".^[22][23] Hearings began in October 2021 and lasted for four weeks. On the first day of hearings on 11 October, Byrne admitted to branch stacking and said that state minister Luke Donnellan was also involved in branch stacking.^[24] In July 2022, IBAC and VO released their report on the branch stacking investigation. They found that there were "extensive misconduct" by Victorian Labor MPs from the Moderate Labor faction, even though branch stacking was found in all factions.^[25][26]

As a result of National Executive taking over preselection processes in June 2020, candidates for the 2022 federal and state elections were chosen by the National Executive instead of local rank-and-file members. Nominations would be made by factional leaders of the state party.^[27] The takeover had been criticised by unions and rank-and-file members. A coalition of up to 10 unions unsuccessfully challenged the move in Victorian Supreme Court, which in October 2021, ruled it to be lawful.^[28]

Labor endorses candidates for a number of local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria, and has done so since at least the 1910s.^[29] Party members can either by formally endorsed or stand as "non-endorsed, supported candidates" (otherwise referred to as Independent Labor).^[30][31]

Like all ALP State and territory branches, the membership of the Victorian branch consists of both individual members and affiliated trade unions, who between them decide the party's policies, and elect its governing bodies. Subject to national executive oversight powers, local branches choose candidates for public office, in a process called preselection.^[32][33][34]

The members and unions elect delegates to state conferences, which decide policy, and elect the state executive, state president (an honorary position usually held for a one-year term), and a state secretary, which is a full-time professional position. There are also full-time assistant secretary and organisers. In the past the ratio of conference delegates coming from the branches and affiliated unions has varied from state to state, however under recent national reforms at least 50% of delegates at all state and territory conferences must be elected by branches.

#	Leader		Term start	Term end	Electorate	Time in office	Premier	Departure notes
1		William Trenwith (1846–1925)	21 April 1892 (de facto)	23 November 1900	Richmond (1889–1903)	8 years, 216 days	No	Resigned to join the Turner Ministry
2		Frederick Bromley (1854–1908)	3 December 1900	7 June 1904	Carlton (1892–1908)	3 years, 187 days	No	Resigned due to ill health
3		George Prendergast (1854–1937)	7 June 1904	17 September 1913	North Melbourne (1900–1927)	9 years, 102 days	No	Resigned due to ill health
4		George Elmslie (1861–1918)	17 September 1913	11 May 1918	Albert Park (1902–1918)	4 years, 236 days	Yes (1913)	Died in office
(3)		George Prendergast (1854–1937)	18 June 1918	14 April 1926	North Melbourne (1900–1927)	7 years, 300 days	Yes (1924)	Resigned
5		Edmond Hogan (1883–1964)	14 April 1926	1 July 1932	Warrenheip (1913–1927)	6 years, 78 days	Yes (1927–1928, 1929–1932)	Expelled from the Labor Party by the state executive
					Warrenheip and Grenville (1927–1945)
6		Tom Tunnecliffe (1869–1948)	13 July 1932	19 October 1937	Collingwood (1921–1947)	5 years, 98 days	No	Resigned to become Speaker
7		John Cain Sr. (1882–1957)	19 October 1937	4 August 1957	Northcote (1927–1957)	19 years, 289 days	Yes (1943, 1945–1947, 1952–1955)	Died in office
8		Ernie Shepherd (1901–1958)	9 August 1957	12 September 1958	Ascot Vale (1955–1958)	1 year, 34 days	No	Died in office
					Footscray (1958)
9		Clive Stoneham (1909–1992)	7 October 1958	15 May 1967	Midlands (1945–1970)	8 years, 220 days	No	Resigned
10		Clyde Holding (1931–2011)	15 May 1967	29 June 1977	Richmond (1962–1977)	10 years, 45 days	No	Resigned to transfer to federal politics
11		Frank Wilkes (1922–2015)	29 June 1977	9 September 1981	Northcote (1957–1988)	4 years, 72 days	No	Deposed
12		John Cain Jr. (1931–2019)	9 September 1981	7 August 1990	Bundoora (1976–1992)	8 years, 332 days	Yes (1982–1990)	Resigned
13		Joan Kirner (1938–2015)	9 August 1990	22 March 1993	Williamstown (1988–1994)	2 years, 225 days	Yes (1990–1992)	Resigned
14		Jim Kennan (1946–2010)	22 March 1993	29 June 1993	Broadmeadows (1988–1993)	98 days	No	Resigned
15		John Brumby (1953–)	30 June 1993	19 March 1999	Broadmeadows (1993–2010)	5 years, 262 days	No	Deposed
16		Steve Bracks (1954–)	22 March 1999	30 July 2007	Williamstown (1994–2007)	8 years, 130 days	Yes (1999–2007)	Resigned
(15)		John Brumby (1953–)	30 July 2007	3 December 2010	Broadmeadows (1993–2010)	3 years, 126 days	Yes (2007–2010)	Resigned
17		Daniel Andrews (1972–)	3 December 2010	27 September 2023	Mulgrave (2002–2023)	12 years, 298 days	Yes (2014–2023)	Resigned
18		Jacinta Allan (1973–)	27 September 2023	Incumbent	Bendigo East (1999–)	1 year, 83 days	Yes (2023–)

#	Deputy Leader		Term start	Term end	Electorate	Time in office	Deputy Premier	Leader	Departure notes
1		George Elmslie (1861–1918)	1912	17 September 1913	Albert Park (1902–1918)		No	George Prendergast	Became leader following the resignation of George Prendergast
2		John Billson (1862–1924)	24 September 1913	23 December 1924	Fitzroy (1900–1924)	11 years, 90 days	No	George Elmslie	Died in office
								George Prendergast
3		Edmond Hogan (1883–1964)	18 February 1925	14 April 1926	Warrenheip (1913–1927)	1 year, 55 days	No		Became leader following the resignation of George Prendergast
4		Tom Tunnecliffe (1869–1948)	14 April 1926	13 July 1932	Collingwood (1921–1947)	6 years, 90 days	No	Edmond Hogan	Became leader following the expulsion of Edmond Hogan
5		John Cain Sr. (1882–1957)	13 July 1932	19 October 1937	Northcote (1927–1957)	5 years, 98 days	No	Tom Tunnecliffe	Became leader following the resignation of Tom Tunnecliffe
6		Bert Cremean (1900–1945)	19 October 1937	24 May 1945	Clifton Hill (1934–1945)	7 years, 217 days	Yes (1943)	John Cain Sr.	Died in office
7		Frank Field (1904–1985)	12 July 1945	1 December 1947	Dandenong (1937–1947)	2 years, 142 days	Yes (1945–1947)		Lost his seat of Dandenong in the 1947 state election
8		Bill Galvin (1903–1966)	1 December 1947	14 June 1955	Bendigo (1945–1955)	7 years, 195 days	Yes (1952–1955)		Lost his seat of Bendigo in the 1955 state election
9		Ernie Shepherd (1901–1958)	14 June 1955	9 August 1957	Ascot Vale (1955–1958)	2 years, 56 days	No		Became leader following the death of John Cain Sr.
10		Clive Stoneham (1909–1992)	9 August 1957	7 October 1958	Midlands (1945–1970)	1 year, 59 days	No	Ernie Shepherd	Became leader following the death of Ernie Shepherd
11		Denis Lovegrove (1904–1979)	7 October 1958	15 May 1967	Fitzroy (1958–1967)	8 years, 220 days	No	Clive Stoneham	Resigned
					Sunshine (1967–1973)
12		Frank Wilkes (1922–2015)	15 May 1967	29 June 1977	Northcote (1957–1988)	10 years, 45 days	No	Clyde Holding	Became leader following the resignation of Clyde Holding
13		Robert Fordham (1942–)	29 June 1977	31 January 1989	Footscray (1970–1992)	11 years, 216 days	Yes (1982–1989)	Frank Wilkes	Resigned
								John Cain Jr.
14		Joan Kirner (1938–2015)	7 February 1989	9 August 1990	Williamstown (1988–1994)	1 year, 183 days	Yes (1989–1990)		Became leader following the resignation of John Cain Jr.
15		Jim Kennan (1946–2010)	9 August 1990	22 March 1993	Broadmeadows (1988–1993)	2 years, 225 days	Yes (1990–1992)	Joan Kirner	Became leader following the resignation of Joan Kirner
16		Bob Sercombe (1949–)	22 March 1993	3 May 1994	Niddrie (1988–1996)	1 year, 42 days	No	Jim Kennan	Resigned following failed attempt to oust John Brumby
								John Brumby
17		Demetri Dollis (1956–)	3 May 1994	23 December 1996	Richmond (1988–1999)	2 years, 234 days	No		Resigned
18		John Thwaites (1955–)	23 December 1996	30 July 2007	Albert Park (1992–2007)	10 years, 219 days	Yes (1999–2007)		Resigned
								Steve Bracks
19		Rob Hulls (1957–)	30 July 2007	2 February 2012	Niddrie (1996–2012)	4 years, 187 days	Yes (2007–2010)	John Brumby	Resigned
								Daniel Andrews
20		James Merlino (1972–)	2 February 2012	25 June 2022	Monbulk (2002–)	10 years, 143 days	Yes (2014–2022)		Resigned
21		Jacinta Allan (1973–)	25 June 2022	27 September 2023	Bendigo East (1999–)	1 year, 94 days	Yes (2022–2023)		Became leader following the resignation of Daniel Andrews
22		Ben Carroll (1975–)	27 September 2023	Incumbent	Niddrie (2012–)	1 year, 83 days	Yes (2023–)	Jacinta Allan

Election	Leader	Seats	±	Total votes	%	±%	Position
1894	William Trenwith		??				Crossbench
1897		8 / 95	8	19,371	10.44%		Crossbench
1900		9 / 95	1	17,952	11.22%	0.8%	Crossbench
1902	Frederick Bromley	12 / 95	3	30,804	18.01%	6.8%	Crossbench
1904		17 / 67	5	49,922	32.55%	14.5%	Opposition
1907	George Prendergast	14 / 65	3	40,044	34.40%	1.9%	Opposition
1908		21 / 65	7	30,605	34.78%	0.4%	Opposition
1911		20 / 65	1	167,422	43.06%	8.3%	Opposition
1914	George Elmslie	22 / 65	2	123,752	39.58%	3.5%	Opposition
1917		18 / 65	4	111,637	32.29%	7.3%	Opposition
1920	George Prendergast	20 / 65	2	131,083	29.28%	3.0%	Opposition
1921		21 / 65	1	115,432	34.87%	6.4%	Opposition
1924		27 / 65	6	128,056	34.87%	0.0%	Minority government
1927	Edmond Hogan	28 / 65	1	319,848	41.79%	6.9%	Minority government
1929		30 / 65	2	247,251	39.09%	2.7%	Minority government
1932	Tom Tunnecliffe	16 / 65	14	237,993	35.14%	4.0%	Opposition
1935		17 / 65	1	318,390	37.93%	2.8%	Opposition
1937		20 / 65	3	322,699	41.03%	3.1%	Opposition
1940	John Cain	22 / 65	2	256,744	33.17%	7.9%	Opposition
1943		22 / 65	0	311,051	36.13%	3.0%	Opposition
1945		31 / 65	9	360,079	41.02%	4.9%	Minority government
1947		17 / 65	14	486,635	40.87%	0.2%	Opposition
1950		24 / 65	7	546,978	45.29%	4.4%	Opposition
1952		37 / 65	13	504,773	49.07%	3.8%	Majority government
1955		20 / 66	17	420,197	32.57%	16.5%	Opposition
1958	Ernie Shepherd	18 / 66	2	515,638	37.70%	5.1%	Opposition
1961	Clive Stoneham	17 / 66	1	552,015	38.55%	0.9%	Opposition
1964		18 / 66	1	546,279	36.22%	2.3%	Opposition
1967		16 / 73	2	596,520	37.90%	1.7%	Opposition
1970	Clyde Holding	22 / 73	6	693,105	41.42%	3.5%	Opposition
1973		18 / 73	4	789,561	41.61%	0.2%	Opposition
1976		21 / 81	3	869,021	42.43%	0.8%	Opposition
1979	Frank Wilkes	32 / 81	11	962,123	45.23%	2.8%	Opposition
1982	John Cain	49 / 81	17	1,122,887	50.01%	4.8%	Majority government
1985		47 / 88	2	1,198,262	50.01%	0.0%	Majority government
1988		46 / 88	1	1,131,750	46.55%	3.5%	Majority government
1992	Joan Kirner	27 / 88	19	1,003,495	38.41%	8.1%	Opposition
1996	John Brumby	29 / 88	2	1,189,475	43.13%	4.7%	Opposition
1999	Steve Bracks	42 / 88	13	1,289,696	45.57%	2.4%	Minority government
2002		62 / 88	20	1,392,704	47.95%	2.4%	Majority government
2006		55 / 88	7	1,278,046	43.06%	4.9%	Majority government
2010	John Brumby	43 / 88	12	1,147,348	36.25%	6.8%	Opposition
2014	Daniel Andrews	47 / 88	4	1,278,436	38.10%	1.8%	Majority government
2018		55 / 88	8	1,506,467	42.86%	4.7%	Majority government
2022		56 / 88	1	1,338,691	37.03%	5.9%	Majority government

Election	Seats Won	±	Total Votes	%	±	Leader
1901	2 / 23	2	11,156	8.70%	8.70%	No leader
1903	2 / 23	0	69,959	27.10%	18.40%	Chris Watson
1906	4 / 22	2	111,626	30.40%	3.30%
1910	11 / 22	7	221,660	48.10%	17.70%	Andrew Fisher
1913	9 / 21	2	287,221	46.80%	1.30%
1914	12 / 21	3	238,079	45.80%	1.00%
1917	7 / 21	5	271,033	46.60%	0.80%	Frank Tudor
1919	6 / 21	1	225,420	38.10%	8.50%
1922	8 / 20	2	194,024	42.20%	4.10%	Matthew Charlton
1925	7 / 20	1	401,848	44.80%	2.60%
1928	8 / 20	1	334,792	39.70%	5.10%	James Scullin
1929	13 / 20	5	412,595	48.90%	9.20%
1931	4 / 20	9	319,151	34.20%	14.70%
1934	6 / 20	2	370,885	36.40%	2.20%
1937	7 / 20	1	381,042	39.30%	2.90%	John Curtin
1940	9 / 20	2	486,884	43.50%	4.20%
1943	9 / 20	0	518,600	43.40%	0.10%
1946	8 / 20	1	592,000	47.90%	4.50%	Ben Chifley
1949	13 / 33	5	604,793	46.80%	1.10%
1951	15 / 33	2	644,153	49.10%	2.30%
1954	15 / 33	0	636,911	50.30%	1.20%	H.V. Evatt
1955	10 / 33	5	493,509	37.10%	13.20%
1958	10 / 33	0	555,470	39.50%	2.00%
1961	10 / 33	0	615,693	41.60%	2.10%	Arthur Calwell
1963	10 / 33	0	620,253	40.40%	1.20%
1966	8 / 33	2	548,743	35.10%	5.30%
1969	11 / 34	3	689,515	41.30%	6.20%	Gough Whitlam
1972	14 / 34	3	854,201	47.30%	6.00%
1974	16 / 34	2	970,236	47.90%	0.60%
1975	10 / 34	6	882,842	42.10%	5.80%
1977	10 / 33	0	791,083	37.20%	4.90%
1980	17 / 33	7	1,016,617	45.50%	8.30%	Bill Hayden
1983	23 / 33	6	1,182,118	50.50%	5.00%	Bob Hawke
1984	25 / 39	2	1,117,874	48.90%	1.60%
1987	24 / 39	1	1,139,337	46.90%	2.00%
1990	14 / 38	10	951,674	37.10%	9.80%
1993	17 / 38	3	1,273,974	46.40%	9.30%	Paul Keating
1996	16 / 37	1	1,190,404	42.90%	3.50%
1998	19 / 37	3	1,261,289	44.40%	1.50%	Kim Beazley
2001	20 / 37	1	1,230,764	41.70%	2.70%
2004	19 / 37	1	1,217,921	40.45%	1.25%	Mark Latham
2007	21 / 37	2	1,416,215	44.69%	4.24%	Kevin Rudd
2010	22 / 37	1	1,361,416	42.81%	1.88%	Julia Gillard
2013	19 / 37	3	1,146,894	34.81%	8.00%	Kevin Rudd
2016	18 / 37	1	1,224,051	35.58%	0.77%	Bill Shorten
2019	21 / 38	3	1,361,913	36.86%	1.28%
2022	24 / 39	3	1,119,081	33.03%	3.83%	Anthony Albanese