The Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard showdown in layman’s terms

You get home from work, crack open a beer and what do you get on your TV screens? Not How I Met Your Mother, or Top Gear. You get Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard having hissy fits. So if you tuned out and need a quick catch up now, here it is. 

Kevin Rudd has resigned as the Foreign Minister. He did it from Washington where he was doing the stuff he usually does as Foreign Minster… that would be talk to foreigners in high positions. See, it’s simple. The resignation looks like it was a result of Rudd lovers tipping him off that Julia Gillard was about to turf him like bad milk anyway, so best to get out on your own terms and make yourself look like the victim. So at 1am Washington time, Rudd resigned. News Limited has the video of the Rudd resignation here.

Julia Gillard was never going to be quiet on the situation so she said this, which the SMH reported. “I am disappointed that the concerns Mr Rudd has publicly expressed this evening were never personally raised with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resignation prior to his decision.” You can read more of what she said on the SMH but that is pretty much the crux of it. The rest is just political yabbering.

So Kevin Rudd is sick of Julia Gillard and Julia Gillard is sick of Kevin Rudd. Good stuff from the top of the country. But now what? Mark Riley from the 7 Network has gone on the record saying that insiders have told him that Gillard will call a leadership vote tomorrow morning at a press conference. The vote will take place on Monday. You can check out Mark Riley’s announcement here.

If there is a vote for the leadership on Monday morning, who has the numbers? At this stage, most news outlets are reporting that Julia Gillard does, but that’s because Kevin Rudd hasn’t properly started to  campaign within the Labor party. There is also speculation that there may be other candidates involved but it is very unlikely.

Has anyone else said anything interesting? Not really. But Wayne Swann said something and he’s probably weeping in the background because no one heard him. He’s not a Rudd fan. Read about it here.

So there you have it. All the news in brief and almost understandable terms. Rudd quits, Gillard disappointed, leadership vote likely for Monday, Swanny has hissy fit.

That’s as far as we will go into it. Needless to say Ruddy will feature in our Men of the Week on Friday. Swanny probably won’t. Want to read more? The ABC has a live blog. Don’t want to? American Pickers is on right now…