First elected to parliament in 1998, she was promoted to the shadow cabinet in 2001 and became Labor Party deputy leader in 2006. Following the Labor victory in the 2007 general election she became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations. In 2010 she successfully challenged Kevin Rudd for the party leadership and became Australia’s first woman Prime Minister. She continued in office as leader of a minority government after the 2010 general election, but, after much party infighting, was ousted by Rudd in 2013. She retired from politics at the 2013 election.