Kevin Rudd has demonstrated, ahead of the 10th anniversary of his downfall on Tuesday, the perseverance that delivered him one of the greatest victories in Labor Party history and the self-delusion that removed him from office.

Rudd has, all year, been engaged in a history-writing exercise that portrays him as a Labor hero brought down by amoral factional warlords. On Saturday, he was quoted in a column by Peter Hartcher of The Sydney Morning Herald calling for the banning of Labor factions, which he amplified in a radio interview.