Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared Monday the “political drama” was over after surviving a leadership challenge from Kevin Rudd, and vowed to re-focus on winning the next election. The nation’s first female prime minister retained office after crushing the former leader 71-31 in a secret ballot of the 103 Labor parliamentarians, although only 102 votes were cast with one member absent. It was among the biggest-ever wins in a Labor leadership ballot after one of the most spiteful campaigns in recent history. “Australians have had a gutful of seeing us focus on ourselves,” Gillard said of the acrimonious row with Rudd.
