Victoria’s Deputy Premier Ben Carroll confirmed on Monday that he will contest the Labor leadership against Premier Jacinta Allan, just a month after publicly insisting he had no ambition to take her job.
Carroll’s move comes amid growing speculation about Allan’s position as the government grapples with worsening polling. Only weeks ago, he told reporters he would be proud for his young daughter to grow up knowing her father had backed Allan to win re-election “in her own right”.
At that same press conference, Carroll was directly asked whether he could look Allan in the eye and assure her he had no intention of asking her to stand aside.
“I can look you in the eye and say that Premier,” Carroll replied, addressing Allan in front of the assembled media.
Now, with Victoria’s state election just four months away, Carroll has confirmed he will mount a challenge for the top job.
“It is clear that the Premier has lost the majority of our caucus. As such, I have visited the Premier to inform her that I will be nominating for the leadership of the Labor Party,” he wrote on social media on Monday morning, as Allan’s cabinet gathered for crisis talks.
“This decision is not easy, but the stakes at the upcoming election are simply too high.
“The prospect of a Liberal-One Nation Government that will cut schools, health and front-line services is simply too high a risk to ignore.”
Ben Carroll has confirmed he will challenge Premier Jacinta Allan for the Labor leadership
Despite mounting speculation of a leadership challenge in the face of worsening polls, Carroll told reporters weeks ago he would be proud for his young daughter to grow up knowing her dad had supported Allan to re-election ‘in her own right’ (pictured, Allan and Carroll in April)
Carroll’s challenge comes as polls suggest Labor is on track for an election wipeout: a recent Resolve Political Monitor had Leader of the Opposition Jess Wilson sitting at 43 per cent in stark contrast to Allan’s 24 per cent.
Carroll is from Labor’s minority right faction; while the left faction has traditionally held sway in Victoria, Allan was informed she no longer had the support of either the left or right of the party.
However, Allan has indicated she will fight any leadership challenge, paving the way for a showdown with Carroll – or any other potential contenders – when the caucus meets on Tuesday.
According to News24, one rumored way forward for the factions could involve Transport Minister and Socialist Left member Gabrielle Williams running alongside Carroll as deputy when Victorians go to the polls on November 28.
It’s not the first time Carroll and Allan have faced off for the leadership; in 2023 Carroll and Allan contested the mantle following the resignation of Daniel Andrews, with Andrews intervening to shut down Carroll’s challenge.
Carroll was given the position of Deputy in a factional ceasefire.
Born in 1975, Carroll grew up in Airport West, a suburb in Melbourne’s northwest, which falls under the state jurisdiction of his seat Niddrie.
‘I am a big believer in everyone getting a go, no matter their circumstance – where they are from, how they were raised or where they attended school,’ his website bio reads.
The awkward moment last month when Carroll looked Allan ‘in the eye’ and confirmed he wasn’t interested in a leadership challenge
‘Growing up in Airport West, from a young age I was taught the value of hard work and the importance of a caring community.’
While in high school at St Bernard’s Secondary College, Carroll begun a seven-year stint working at Airport West Kmart, before studying law at La Trobe University.
Before entering politics Carroll also worked as advisor to Victorian politicians Justin Madden, Stephen Conroy, and former premier Steve Bracks, before being elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2012.
He has held a number of ministerial portfolios, including Roads and Road Safety from 2020 – 2022, and Public Transport from 2020 to 2023.
Those roles placed Carroll squarely in the centre of the ongoing Big Build initiative, a controversial $100 billion reform program for Victorian transport and housing infrastructure which has been plagued by cost blowouts and allegations of corruption.
Allan has been referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) to face questioning over her handling of the scheme.
The Liberals have said they will call for a Royal Commission into the scheme if they are elected in November.
Carroll is also the Minister for Education, for WorkSafe and the TAC and for Medical Research.
Carroll has served as Allan’s deputy since 2023
In 2025, he called for a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to youth crime in Victoria, following the granting of bail to 19-year-old Abbas Mazrawi and his two co-accused brothers Mohamed and Abdurahman Kahn, after the three faced charges of machete assault in St Kilda.
‘We need to have a zero-tolerance approach to violent crime, in particular knife crime,’ Carroll told 3AW radio at the time.
‘Sentencing must allow real rehabilitation – giving young offenders the time and structure to rebuild but also ensuring accountability.
‘What I can guarantee is that no consequences lead to more crime. Victims must always be front and centre.’
According to One News, one MP warned that Carroll ‘plays an integral role’ in the government’, and therefore a potential leadership change ‘(wouldn’t) make any difference’.
Before Monday’s cabinet meeting, a delegation of MPs including Anthony Carbines, Gabrielle Williams, Ingrid Stitt, Luba Grigorovitch and Colin Brooks is understood to have gone to Allan’s office to ask her to resign; Allan refused and suggested that they should resign instead.
Allan also wrote to Labor state secretary Steve Staikos, notifying him of her intention to stand for the leadership if a spill were to occur.
