Such a brazen challenge would never have happened in an era in which Andrews and his office called the shots

For a few hours on Wednesday, Labor was on the brink of a bloody factional war, signalling that Jacinta Allan will have her hands full managing competing interests.

Make no mistake, the Andrews era is over.

It ended shortly before noon on Wednesday when Ben Carroll told colleagues he would mount a challenge against Andrews’ preferred successor Jacinta Allan.

It was a bold move in that it directly challenged the authority of both Andrews and Allan.

And it was one many Labor insiders believed Carroll wouldn’t actually make.

He was pushed to act after a longstanding backroom deal to install him as deputy to Allan was seriously threatened when, for a period, it looked like Tim Pallas would secure the spot.

Jacinta Allan faced a challenge from Ben Carroll. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Carroll’s move was, in factional terms, akin to pulling the pin on a grenade and lobbing it into the partyroom.

Such a brazen challenge would never have happened in an era in which Andrews and his office called the shots.

To challenge them was to risk career suicide, and there is a long list of former MPs who can tell the tales of daring to defy the boss.

But we have entered a new political world.

As one senior Labor apparatchik said: “Dan’s no longer in the room, no one cares what he thinks”.

That might be putting it too bluntly, and too simply.

Allan exits the caucus room. Picture: Getty

While Andrews is likely to fade away from public view in his political retirement – think more Steve Bracks and less Jeff Kennett – he will nevertheless continue to carry some influence.

But his absence from Caucus has clearly, and quickly, emboldened his former colleagues.

Carroll’s decision to challenge prompted three hours of tense negotiations between his Right faction and Allan’s Socialist Left.

It was never more than a political play to secure the deputy Premier position from the SL who had put Pallas up.

It was a serious flex from the SL, who hadn’t necessarily anticipated the Right would bite back.

That reasonable heads prevailed and a deal was done is all that stopped the breakout of what would have become a bloody factional war.

But the damage was done.

Because it exposed a divided partyroom that for a few hours resembled that of the ever fractured Liberal Party.

Sources inside the Caucus meeting said it was Andrews himself who ultimately brought things to a head.

Vicki Ward, Jacinta Allan and Ben Carroll. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Allan does not enjoy the same support as her predecessor. The discipline that Andrews demanded will not necessarily be there.

It came with the acknowledgment that Andrews led the party to three thumping election victories.

Allan will need to earn that, and in the meantime she will have her hands full managing competing interests within her team.

It risks taking her attention from critical issues facing Victoria: the health system, record debt, the housing crisis and pressing law and order issues. She will be keen to quickly establish a new policy platform, and chart her own course as the state’s 49th Premier.

There is no one inside Labor who questions whether Allan is up for the job. But she will need a united team behind her to make it work. With Andrews gone, all bets are off.