THE numbers inside Labor's federal partyroom are now such that Julia Gillard couldn't call a spill to end leadership speculation even if she wanted to.
Doing so would see Kevin Rudd secure enough votes to return to the prime ministership, albeit narrowly. Or the Prime Minister's victory would be so small as to cripple her leadership even further, dividing a warring party more than it already is.
This is why nearly every Labor MP I have spoken to in the past week believes something must happen next week when parliament resumes. Rudd supporters need to find their Kevin Andrews to force a spill of the leadership."
-----------------------------------------
Gillard will never step aside and will never accept being toppled. If this is accurate, I'd expect to see her call an early election to force the Party to swing behind her. It's her nature that she would rather face the judgment of the people than of caucus, even if that means dragging the Party down with her.
