O’Donnell posits leadership mash-up in next election

Former cabinet secretary says post-2015 election negotiations could result in a unique leadership outcome


By Sarah.Aston

05 Jan 2015

The next prime minister may not come from the majority party, Sir Gus O’Donnell suggested today.

With just over four months to go before the general election, O’Donnell said it was possible the prime minister may not be the leader of the emergent majority party.

“It could well be that we have a situation where the prime minister is leader of a party which has fewer seats than one of the others,” O’Donnell told Sky News.

When asked if this would cause a constitutional crisis, O’Donnell – who was heavily involved in the Coalition negotiations in 2010 – said it was unlikely.

“I think it reflects the fact that we are in a world where the people, the electorate, are voting for lots more parties,” he added. 

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