Victoria's deputy premier, Ben Carroll, has confirmed he will make a leadership challenge against Premier Jacinta Allan, just four months out from a state election. Carroll, 51, was elected to parliament in 2012 and has held multiple portfolios including education, roads, and youth justice.
Carroll's political rise
In 2023, when then-public transport minister Carroll failed in his bid to secure the leadership after Daniel Andrews resigned, he told a press conference: “I was always very keen to rise.” Andrews had intended for Jacinta Allan to succeed him as premier and Tim Pallas as deputy, but Carroll, from Labor's diminished right faction, refused to fall into line. A caucus meeting turned into a marathon debate, with Carroll threatening to challenge Allan unless he was made deputy. He got his way and became deputy premier.
Carroll said he had always wanted to rise. “I’ve had 14 portfolios over six years … and I’m always looking to see how I can continue to increase my contribution to this outstanding Labor government,” he said.
Background and early career
Carroll was elected to parliament in 2012 as the member for Niddrie in Melbourne's west, encompassing Essendon West, Keilor East, and Airport West. He grew up there and still lives with his wife, Fiona, and daughter, Madeliene. His first job was at Kmart, where he joined the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and was introduced to unionism.
He claims his political journey began in 1996 when he was offered a tour of Canberra by Simon Crean and shook hands with US President Bill Clinton. He joined the Niddrie Labor branch that year. After graduating with an arts degree, he worked in insurance before the Bracks government came to power in 1999. He then worked for then-senator Stephen Conroy before being preselected for Niddrie in a 2012 byelection.
Portfolios and achievements
Under Allan's cabinet reshuffle after her elevation, Carroll was given his choice of portfolio – as is tradition – but was excluded from the expenditure review committee, cabinet's most senior decision-making body. He took on the education portfolio. During his tenure, Victoria had its best ever Naplan results, ranking first or second in 18 of 20 measures in 2025, with the highest number of students performing at “strong” or above. He also oversaw the introduction of mandatory phonics classes in schools, a method divisive among academics and the Australian Education Union.
However, he was also at the helm for serious errors, such as mistakes in VCE maths and chemistry exams in 2023, and the 2024 “cheat sheet” bungle, when exam content for 65 subjects was accidentally published weeks before students sat the tests. A review led Carroll to sack the entire board of the curriculum authority. Most recently, he has been overseeing protracted negotiations between the government and teachers, with AEU Victoria members taking industrial action in March and again last week.
Path to challenge
Carroll's name had been associated with a possible leadership spill for months, with momentum building before parliament rose for a winter break in June. Poor polling, Allan's weak personal approval ratings, rising support for One Nation, and concerns about Allan's response to organised crime infiltrating the state's Big Build via the construction union all contributed. At a press conference, Carroll repeatedly dismissed suggestions he was positioning himself as a challenger, telling reporters: “I’ve got the job that I want.”
“We have a premier, and she’s working harder than anyone every day. I want to serve Jacinta Allan. I’ve got a young daughter at home, and I couldn’t be more proud to make sure she grows up knowing that I supported Jacinta Allan to be a world-class premier and get re-elected in her own right,” he said. He added he would not be asking Allan to step aside the next day, and said: “I can look her in the eye and say that.” A spill did not eventuate at the party room meeting the next day, but Carroll emerged declaring himself a “marathon runner” when asked if he had missed his chance.
If he becomes premier, Carroll is understood to be in favour of calling for a royal commission into Big Build corruption allegations, also believing he’d be better able to resolve the pay dispute between the government and public school teachers, and improve the party’s economic credentials and supporting businesses.
