Jacinta Allan resigns as Victorian premier ahead of leadership challenge by Ben Carroll

Allan stepped down from top job before expected spill, saying her deputy has her ‘unqualified support’

Live updates: Jacinta Allan quits as premier of Victoria

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Ben Carroll has been sworn in as the premier of Victoria, after Jacinta Allan resigned and a surprise rival for the Labor leadership emerged after a tumultuous 48 hours for Labor just four months out from the state election.

Speaking outside a party room meeting on Tuesday, Labor MP Juliana Addison announced that Carroll had been “unanimously endorsed by the state parliamentary Labor party as our next premier of Victoria”.

The transport infrastructure minister, Gabrielle Williams, secured the party’s deputy leadership.

In a video shared on his social media accounts, Carroll said he was “honoured and humbled to have been elected unanimously by my colleagues to serve as the new premier of Victoria”.

“Yesterday, they asked me to put my hand up to lead our party, and I agreed,” Carroll said in the video.

“This was not an easy decision, but the stakes at this election are too high. Polling says Victoria is on track for Australia’s first Liberal-One Nation government.”

He said “only Labor could stop the risk” of such a thing, and promised to deliver a “new direction” for his government.

Carroll was expected to address the media on Tuesday afternoon.

Allan on Monday had vowed to contest a leadership ballot after a group of MPs told her she no longer had the support of caucus and urged her to stand down. Carroll, the deputy premier, also confirmed he would nominate for the Labor leadership.

But on Tuesday morning, Allan said on Tuesday morning that Carroll would have her “unqualified support”.

It was expected that Carroll would run unopposed for the leadership during Tuesday’s caucus meeting, avoiding a weeks’ long process to allow the broader party membership to vote.

But in a surprise move, Labor sources said frontbencher Sonya Kilkenny initially announced she would contest the leadership during the meeting, in which MPs could be heard shouting.

A contested leadership would have meant weeks of instability in the run-up to the election, as the party’s balloting process can take up to six weeks.

Speaking before the party room meeting on Tuesday, Allan said she had decided to step aside – despite believing she would have won a leadership ballot – because it was “the right thing” to do for Labor and Victorians.

“After speaking with my colleagues overnight, I have made the difficult decision to step aside as leader of the Victorian state parliamentary Labor party, and as premier of Victoria,” she said.

“I was prepared to put my record and my plan to a ballot of members as our rules allow. I believe I would have won. But doing this so this close to an election takes up valuable resources, including the most precious one – time.”

Allan said she would instead chair Tuesday’s caucus meeting to elect a new leader.

Speculation about a leadership spill had been swirling for months, and momentum had been building before parliament rose for the winter break in June. Poor polling and Allan’s weak personal approval ratings contributed to the push, along with rising support for One Nation.

Allan’s leadership has also been dogged by allegations of wrongdoing on the Big Build, as she was the minister responsible for transport infrastructure at the time. While she has apologised for criminal conduct that has been uncovered, she has also rejected calls for a royal commission. This is understood to have put her at odds with a number of MPs who believe the issue cannot be contained without one.

Carroll is understood to be in favour of a royal commission. He has also indicated that he believes he’d be better able to resolve the pay dispute between the government and public school teachers, improve the party’s economic credentials and do more to support businesses.

He had long been touted as a potential challenger for the leadership but consistently ruled out doing so. In June he looked Allan in the eye and declared he would not challenge her.

Under Labor’s rules, a contested leadership triggers an election process in which both the parliamentary caucus and rank-and-file Labor members vote, and can take a full six weeks to complete.

Arriving at parliament on Tuesday morning, Carroll made only a brief statement to reporters, saying his focus was on talking to his colleagues.

Before she announced her resignation, Steve Dimopoulos, a minister and key supporter of Allan, said: “I think the party has been good at sorting things out, this is what today will be.”

The former health minister Mary-Anne Thomas, who this year announced she would resign at the November election, said Allan had “served this state with real leadership. She’s always had the people of Victoria at the heart of everything that she does.”

The environment minister, Enver Erdogan, had told reporters on Tuesday morning there was a “case for change”. “I think we know some of these issues have been aired publicly but I think we need stronger action on crime and corruption in the state.”

Asked whether there needed to be a royal commission into allegations of corruption on Big Build construction sites, he replied: “Yes.”