Inside major rebrand of Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy ahead of Victorian election
Both media savvy ex-staffers, Victoria’s Premier and his political rival have changed dramatically since first entering public life.
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On the surface, Daniel Andrews and Mathew Guy – the two candidates vying to lead Victoria – appear to have a lot in common.
Both ex-political staffers, they are each media savvy family men who have spent two decades ruthlessly climbing the ranks of their respective parties.
But these well-refined profiles weren’t always as they are now. In fact, both leaders have undergone rebranding on their journeys towards the latest state election.
Mr Guy is the grandson of Ukrainian migrants and grew up in Melbourne’s northeast while the current Premier hails from a Catholic family based in country Wangaratta.
It’s hard to imagine after he etched himself into the state’s psyche through 120 consecutive daily press conferences during 2020, but the Victorian Premier was once known for being not so present.
In the lead up to the 2014 election, Mr Andrews was called ‘David’ on no less than the front cover of Good Weekend after he sat down for a lengthy interview with the magazine.
That same year, former Liberal Party strategist Grahame Morris labelled him Andrew Daniels during a Sky News election segment.
Mr Morris carelessly said it was “close enough” to the then-shadow health minister’s correct name once corrected by a co-host.
Even worse, just two months out from the polls, then-Federal education Minister Christopher Pyne repeated the same wrong name during a press conference.
The father-of-three’s team debuted his new, simple title of Dan in a campaign video around the same period.
Mr Guy attempted a similar switch up in August and is now referred to as ‘Matt’ in press releases and official party communications.
However, both leaders are reportedly called by their full names by associates in and outside of politics.
In addition to the fresh moniker, Mr Andrews upped the ante during his crusade towards victory in 2014, trading stiff suits for casual clothes and upgrading to a new pair of his trademark glasses.
At the time, The Age reported he was seen as “either unrecognisable or unappealing: a political careerist who has spent his life serving the ALP”.
This compared to then-Premier Denis Napthine, a rural vet and disabilities worker who didn’t dip into public life until his mid-30s.
Mr Andrews slimmed down by more than 10kg that election year, telling The Herald Sun it came because “he started walking and stopped eating s***”.
More rounds of media training also came in handy in his attempts to connect with Victorians, with insiders saying in 2014, Mr Andrews was “being worked on for quite some time”.
Factional ally and 2021 Health Minister Martin Foley told the same publication he was shocked by his friend’s transformation.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with how his public and private persona has rounded out,” Mr Foley said.
“If you had said four years ago that Daniel would be seen as a rounded human being rather than a machine, I would have found it hard to believe.
“But what he’s done is he’s grown more comfortable and confident; he’s moved on to the next level.”
Before his pre-Premier revamp, Mr Andrews had been an electorate officer, party organiser and assistant secretary for the ALP before being elected as the member for Mulgrave in 2002.
Despite a continued low profile he served as Health Minister from 2007 until 2010 before becoming Leader of the Opposition when Labor lost power that same year.
Similarly, Mr Guy is an old hand at the game, first getting stuck into politics as a student at LaTrobe University.
After graduating, he worked for then Premier Jeff Kennett before serving as then opposition leader Denis Napthine’s chief of staff in the early 2000s.
He then took a job at the Victorian Farmers Federation after the Coalition’s disastrous 2002 election run, before being elected as the member for Bulleen four years later.
In his maiden parliamentary speech, Mr Guy delivered excerpts of the address in Ukrainian as an ode to his grandparents’ homeland.
“I am exceptionally proud to be here as an Australian with Ukrainian heritage,” he said.
“The Ukrainian community has contributed much to the culture and development of Australia and today our two nations are great friends.”
Mr Guy also spoke of his devout Christian faith and high hopes for his stint in parliament.
“In my time in this parliament I hope to stand out as a staunch defender of the suburban or town life that so many of us know,” he said.
“I hope to be able to provide new opportunities for other Victorians to continue that style of family life and to ensure that if people want to live the great Australian dream, they have the opportunity to do so.”
However, despite the initial optimism, Mr Guy’s road towards the latest election has been far from straight.
He was dumped as party leader following the Liberals’ thrashing in 2018 and infamous dinner excursion with the alleged head of an alleged underworld boss.
That election resulted in the party, who was already in Opposition, to lose a further 10 seats in the Lower House, reducing its hold to 27 out of 88 possible seats.
A similar battle lies ahead when Victorians head to the polls on November 26, despite the government’s controversial handling of the pandemic and its six infamous lockdowns.
Whether it's a Guy, Andrews or perhaps another abbreviated alter ego that nabs the top job, it will have been a inventive effort decades in the making.
Originally published as Inside major rebrand of Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy ahead of Victorian election
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