Into the Unknown - 1982 Labor Leadership

[Kamala]

Labor Leadership Election, 1982


Simon Desmondee - lawyer from Arcadia. Desmondee desires to see the party shift toward the center and pick up middle-class suburban and urban voters. He supports slightly liberalizing labor laws but also granting public funds to unions, improving infrastructure, and a generic "referendum" policy on social issues.

Two days to vote.

[Kamala]

There's still quite a bit of time to vote, but as of right now, Mendelssohn and Crane are tied. Neither have a majority, though.

[Kamala]

Desmondee->Crane supporter, since it seems Desmondee won't make it to the second round.

On this note - other Desmondee voters, who is your second preference?

[Kamala]

2 hours left to vote! A very tight race, but Mendelssohn has pulled into the lead, just barely.

[Kamala]

Labor Leadership election, 1982

First Ballot
Nelson Crane - 45.5%
Shelley Mendelssohn - 42.4%
Simon Desmondee - 12.1%

Second Ballot
Nelson Crane - 53.7%
Shelley Mendelssohn - 46.3%

In what turned out to be a tight race between Nelson Crane and Shelley Mendelssohn, the two major wings of Labor came down to the wire. By the end of the first balloting, no candidate had reached a majority, leaving third-place loser Simon Desmondee to be the kingmaker.

Reluctantly, Desmondee gave his support to Crane, claiming that Mendelssohn's socially liberal agenda was too much of a threat to the party's prospects and the nation to be tolerable.

By November of 1982, Crane's intraparty reforms had begun to take shape. He appointed Desmondee his deputy for his support during the leadership election. However, Crane's own somewhat egotist personality led him to be extremely antagonistic against Mendelssohn and her supporters. The resignation of Clement Burdiss from Parliament led the party to another breaking point; party leaders had the ability to appoint replacements for any of their members who had left Parliament, but the motion must be approved by a majority of the party's sitting MPs. Mendelssohn's attempt to use the motion to gain leverage over Crane resulted in her expulsion from the party; soon, six other loyal supporters left the party voluntarily. While Crane did fill the empty seat with his chosen nominee, Labor was cut down from the second largest party to the third smallest, and lost its position of official opposition to Ta' Lāmla.

By December of 1982, the independent caucus led by Mendelssohn had to make a choice regarding its future, which will be covered in the next segment.