Bowen drops out of Labor leadership race to clear way for Albanese

Chris Bowen drops out of the Labor leadership race, just a day after declaring he would run against Anthony Albanese, as Queensland's Jim Chalmers weighs up his options.

Chris Bowen drops out of the Labor leadership race, just a day after declaring he would run against Anthony Albanese, as Queensland's Jim Chalmers weighs up his options.

 

 

 The Shadow Treasurer announced his decision to bow out this afternoon after a flood of Labor MPs declared their support for Mr Albanese, including senior figures from Labor's Right faction.

It has cleared the way for Mr Albanese to replace Bill Shorten as Labor leader unopposed, unless another candidate steps up.

Just minutes after Mr Bowen's announcement, Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers tweeted that he was being encouraged to run for the leadership and would consider his options overnight. 

Meanwhile, the Coalition could still win up to two more seats, extending Scott Morrison's control over the House of Representatives.

The Liberals’ Sarah Richards is ahead of Labor MP Susan Templeman in Macquarie, with the AEC website showing only a couple of hundred voters between them.

In Bass, the Liberals’ Bridget Archer sits on 50.4 per cent of the two-party vote, ahead of incumbent Labor MP Ross Hart.If the current count trends continue, the Liberal-National coalition will have 78 seats, with Labor on 67 and six crossbenchers.

Originally published as Bowen drops out of Labor leadership race to clear way for Albanese

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