"At least there will be a lesson learnt by the parties and that it not to turf a first term PM"
I believe this issue has been over-played by the media.
I would say a majority of voters know that they vote for a party that has policies they prefer, they do not vote for a person whom they want to be the prime minister.
I don't remember ever hearing the leader of a party in an election campaign asking people to vote for him, it was often him asking for people to vote for his party and he showcase his party's policies to win voters' support.
