Julia Gillard become chief of staff to John Brumby, the leader of the Labor Party in Victoria. This preceded her own entry into federal politics. Gillard was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1998 federal election for the seat of Lalor. Following the 2001 election, she was elected to Shadow Cabinet. When Kevin Rudd was elected as party leader and Leader of the Opposition in December 2006, Gillard was elected unopposed as his deputy. Upon Labor's victory at the 2007 election, she became the first female Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, and was made Minister for Education, Minister for
Julia Gillard day. Ten minutes before the ballot was due to occur, Rudd publicly announced that he would not contest the leadership, in line with the commitment he had made following the 2012 contest. As such, Gillard and Wayne Swan were the only candidates for the Leadership and Deputy Leadership of the Labor Party, and were elected unopposed. This marked the first time in history that an incumbent Labor Leader was elected unopposed at a leadership ballot. Several ministers subsequently resigned from the government, including Chief Government Whip Joel Fitzgibbon, Human Services Minister Kim Carr, and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson. Gillard declared