PM holds off on wedding until after the election

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee Jodie Haydon plan to hold their wedding after the next election, avoiding the major distraction of nuptials held before what is looming as a tight poll.

That timing defies speculation that the wedding would precede the election to give Labor an electoral boost.

Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon announce their Valentine’s Day engagement.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

An election must be held by May next year and the prime minister has repeatedly rubbished suggestions he would call an early election this year. Going to the polls in the first half of 2025 means the nation’s first couple, who got engaged in February, will probably tie the knot in the second half of next year.

Senior government sources, who sought anonymity to reveal private plans, said the couple wanted to avoid fevered scrutiny and would struggle to find time in the prime minister’s schedule before the election.

No Australian prime minister has married while in office, which has generated intense interest in questions such as the venue, the level of media access and the guest list of a potential wedding. Polarising radio host Kyle Sandilands had the prime minister at his wedding in 2023, for example, sparking days of headlines.

As Labor’s first term comes into its final stages, the party’s leadership aims to narrow its political agenda while focusing on key promises and attempting to ease the pain of a generational inflation outbreak.

The gap in opinion polling between Albanese and Peter Dutton has continued to narrow since Albanese, 61, popped the question to Haydon, 45, at The Lodge after dinner at a popular Canberra Italian restaurant.

Dutton and other political opponents of the prime minister praised the couple when they announced the feel-good moment. But the opposition has sought to portray Albanese as sometimes lacking focus on domestic issues as he travelled overseas for key forums, labelling him “Airbus Albo”, opening up the possibility of similar criticisms if the focus turned to a lavish wedding before the election.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong married her partner Sophie Allouache in March and attracted modest coverage, providing one model for Albanese.

Albanese previously spoke about his shock when his ex-wife, former Labor politician Carmel Tebbutt, asked for a divorce in 2019.

It left the now-prime minister considering his political future. Then he became party leader and met Haydon.

“It has been really important,” he said last year of meeting Haydon.

“I have a very complex job that involves a lot of pressure and having someone to spend your life with, your personal life with, along with my son, is fantastic.”

“I’ve been very lucky to find someone to spend time with and to have a terrific relationship with.”

Albanese’s office was contacted for comment.

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