List of premiers of Victoria explained

The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the Australian state of Victoria. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria and must be a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. To be appointed, the premier must command confidence in the Legislative Assembly, meaning that they must have the support of a majority of Legislative Assembly members. In practice, this is typically the leader of the political party who holds the support of a majority of lower house members.^[1]

Each premier since 1933, apart from Ian Macfarlan, who only served for 51 days, has had a portrait commissioned for the Victorian Parliament's portrait collection. The tradition was initiated by Legislative Council President Fred Grimwade. Premiers who hold the office for 3,000 days are granted a statue as a commemoration of their legacy. Five premiers, Daniel Andrews, Henry Bolte, John Cain Jr, Albert Dunstan, and Rupert Hamer, have achieved this milestone and four have their statues near the premier's office at 1 Treasury Place.^[2]

The longest-serving premier was Henry Bolte, who served from 7 June 1955 to 23 August 1972 for a total of 17 years, and 77 days in office. He was a member of the Liberal Party. By contrast, the shortest-serving premier was George Elmslie, who served from 9 December 1913 to 22 December 1913 for a total of 13 days in office. He was also the first premier from the Labor Party.^[3] The current premier is Jacinta Allan of the Labor Party, who assumed the office on 27 September 2023 following the resignation of Daniel Andrews. Allan is the second female to have held the office.^[4]

List of premiers of Victoria

Political parties

! rowspan="2" scope="col"

Portrait	Premier	Election	Term of office			Political party/ alignment	Ministry	Monarch	Governor	Notes
Took office			Left office	Time in office^[5]
1		William Haines	1856	28 November 1855	11 March 1857		Independent	Haines I	Victoria	Charles Hotham	^[6]
										Henry Barkly
2		John O'Shanassy		11 March 1857	29 April 1857		Independent	O'Shanassy I			^[7]
(1)		William Haines		29 April 1857	10 March 1858		Independent	Haines II
(2)		John O'Shanassy		10 March 1858	27 October 1859		Independent	O'Shanassy II
3		William Nicholson	1859	27 October 1859	26 November 1860		Independent	Nicholson			^[8]
4		Richard Heales	1861	26 November 1860	14 November 1861		Independent	Heales			^[9]
(2)		John O'Shanassy		14 November 1861	27 June 1863		Independent	O'Shanassy III
5		James McCulloch	1864 1866 1868	27 June 1863	6 May 1868		Independent	McCulloch I			^[10]
										Charles Darling
										Lord Canterbury
6		Charles Sladen		6 May 1868	11 July 1868		Independent	Sladen			^[11]
(5)		James McCulloch		11 July 1868	20 September 1869		Independent	McCulloch II
7		John Alexander MacPherson		20 September 1869	9 April 1870		Independent	MacPherson			^[12]
(5)		James McCulloch	1871	9 April 1870	19 June 1871		Independent	McCulloch III
8		Charles Gavan Duffy		19 June 1871	10 June 1872		Independent	Duffy			^[13]
9		James Francis	1874	10 June 1872	31 July 1874		Independent	Francis			^[14]
										George Bowen
10		George Kerferd		31 July 1874	7 August 1875		Independent	Kerferd			^[15]
11		Graham Berry		7 August 1875	20 October 1875		Non-Party Liberalism	Berry I			^[16]
(5)		James McCulloch		20 October 1875	21 May 1877		Non-Party Conservatism	McCulloch IV
(11)		Graham Berry	1877 Feb. 1880	21 May 1877	5 March 1880		Non-Party Liberalism	Berry II
										Lord Normanby
12		James Service	Feb. 1880	5 March 1880	3 August 1880		Non-Party Conservatism	Service I			^[17]
(11)		Graham Berry	Jul. 1880	3 August 1880	9 July 1881		Non-Party Liberalism	Berry III
13		Bryan O'Loghlen		9 July 1881	8 March 1883		Non-Party Liberalism	O'Loghlen			^[18]
(12)		James Service	1883	8 March 1883	18 February 1886		Non-Party Conservatism	Service II
										Henry Loch
14		Duncan Gillies	1886 1889	18 February 1886	5 November 1890		Non-Party Conservatism	Gillies			^[19]
										Lord Hopetoun
15		James Munro		5 November 1890	16 February 1892		Non-Party Liberalism	Munro			^[20]
16		William Shiels	1892	16 February 1892	23 January 1893		Non-Party Liberalism	Shiels			^[21]
17		James Patterson		23 January 1893	27 September 1894		Non-Party Conservatism	Patterson			^[22]
18		George Turner	1894 1897	27 September 1894	5 December 1899		Protectionist and Liberal	Turner I			^[23]
										Lord Brassey
19		Allan McLean		5 December 1899	19 November 1900		Non-Party Liberalism	McLean			^[24]
(18)		George Turner	1900	19 November 1900	12 February 1901		Non-Party Liberalism	Turner II		vacant
									Edward VII
20		Alexander Peacock		12 February 1901	10 June 1902		Non-Party Liberalism	Peacock I		George Clarke	^[25]
21		William Irvine	1902	10 June 1902	16 February 1904		Reform	Irvine			^[26]
22		Thomas Bent	1904 1907 1908	16 February 1904	8 January 1909		Reform	Bent		Reginald Talbot	^[27]
										Thomas Gibson-Carmichael
23		John Murray	1911	8 January 1909	18 May 1912		Commonwealth Liberal	Murray			^[28]
									George V
										John Fuller
24		William Watt		18 May 1912	9 December 1913		Commonwealth Liberal	Watt I			^[29]
25		George Elmslie		9 December 1913	22 December 1913		Labor	Elmslie		vacant	^[30]
(24)		William Watt		22 December 1913	18 June 1914		Commonwealth Liberal	Watt II		Arthur Stanley
(20)		Alexander Peacock	1914	18 June 1914	29 November 1917		Commonwealth Liberal	Peacock II
26		John Bowser	1917	29 November 1917	21 March 1918		Nationalist	Bowser			^[31]
27		Harry Lawson	1920 1921	21 March 1918	28 April 1924		Nationalist	Lawson I Lawson II Lawson III			^[32]
										Lord Stradbroke
(20)		Alexander Peacock		28 April 1924	18 July 1924		Nationalist	Peacock III
28		George Prendergast	1924	18 July 1924	18 November 1924		Labor	Prendergast			^[33]
29		John Allan		18 November 1924	20 May 1927		Country	John Allan			^[34]
										Lord Somers
30		Edmond Hogan	1927	20 May 1927	22 November 1928		Labor	Hogan I			^[35]
31		William McPherson		22 November 1928	12 December 1929		Nationalist	McPherson			^[36]
(30)		Edmond Hogan	1929	12 December 1929	19 May 1932		Labor	Hogan II
32		Stanley Argyle	1932 1935	19 May 1932	2 April 1935		United Australia	Argyle I Argyle II		Lord Huntingfield	^[37]
33		Albert Dunstan	1937 1940 1943	2 April 1935	14 September 1943		United Country	Dunstan I			^[38]
									Edward VIII
									George VI
										Lord Dugan
34		John Cain Sr.		14 September 1943	18 September 1943		Labor	Cain Sr. I			^[39]
(33)		Albert Dunstan		18 September 1943	2 October 1945		United Country	Dunstan II
35		Ian Macfarlan		2 October 1945	21 November 1945		Liberal	Macfarlan			^[40]
(34)		John Cain Sr.	1945	21 November 1945	20 November 1947		Labor	Cain Sr. II
36		Thomas Hollway	1947 1950	20 November 1947	27 June 1950		Liberal Liberal and Country	Hollway I/I Hollway I/II Hollway I/III			^[41]
										Dallas Brooks
37		John McDonald		27 June 1950	28 October 1952		Country	McDonald I			^[42]
									Elizabeth II
(36)		Thomas Hollway		28 October 1952	31 October 1952		Electoral Reform	Hollway II
(37)		John McDonald		31 October 1952	17 December 1952		Country	McDonald II
(34)		John Cain Sr.	1952	17 December 1952	7 June 1955		Labor	Cain Sr. III			^[43]
38		Henry Bolte	1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970	7 June 1955	23 August 1972		Liberal and Country Liberal	Bolte I Bolte II Bolte III Bolte IV Bolte V Bolte VI			^[44]
										Rohan Delacombe
39		Rupert Hamer	1973 1976 1979	23 August 1972	5 June 1981		Liberal	Hamer I Hamer II Hamer III Hamer IV			^[45]
										Henry Winneke
40		Lindsay Thompson		5 June 1981	8 April 1982		Liberal	Thompson			^[46]
										Brian Murray
41		John Cain Jr.	1982 1985 1988	8 April 1982	10 August 1990		Labor	Cain Jr.			^[47]
										Davis McCaughey
42		Joan Kirner		10 August 1990	6 October 1992		Labor	Kirner			^[48]
										Richard McGarvie
43		Jeff Kennett	1992 1996	6 October 1992	20 October 1999		Liberal	Kennett I Kennett II			^[49]
										James Gobbo
44		Steve Bracks	1999 2002 2006	20 October 1999	30 July 2007		Labor	Bracks I Bracks II Bracks III			^[50]
										John Landy
										David de Kretser
45		John Brumby		30 July 2007	2 December 2010		Labor	Brumby			^[51]
46		Ted Baillieu	2010	2 December 2010	6 March 2013		Liberal	Baillieu			^[52]
										Alex Chernov
47		Denis Napthine		6 March 2013	4 December 2014		Liberal	Napthine			^[53]
48		Daniel Andrews	2014 2018 2022	4 December 2014	27 September 2023		Labor	Andrews I Andrews II Andrews III			^[54]
										Linda Dessau
									Charles III
										Margaret Gardner
49		Jacinta Allan		27 September 2023	Incumbent		Labor	Jacinta Allan			^[55]

See also

• Department of Premier and Cabinet, Victoria
• Deputy Premier of Victoria
• List of premiers of Victoria by time in office

Sources

• Book: Costar . Brian J. . The Victorian Premiers, 1856–2006 . Strangio . Paul . Federation Press . 2006 . 1-86287-601-0 . 5 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231009032113/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=q9G5TdHXBlIC . 9 October 2023 . live . none.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2 October 2023 . The Premier . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230512110757/https://www.vic.gov.au/premier . 12 May 2023 . 6 October 2023 . Victorian Government . en-AU.
2. News: Kolovos . Benita . A bronze North Face jacket? Daniel Andrews sized up for statue after 3,000 days as premier . 5 October 2023 . . 18 February 2023 . en-AU . 26 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230926045907/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/19/a-bronze-north-face-jacket-daniel-andrews-sized-up-for-statue-after-3000-days-as-premier . live .
3. News: Toy . Mitchell . 21 April 2022 . How Victoria's first Labor premier lasted just 13 days . en-AU . . 6 October 2023.
4. Web site: Jacina Allan to become premier of Victoria . Kolovos . Benita . Ore . Adeshola . . 27 September 2023 . 27 September 2023 . 27 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230927044156/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/27/new-premier-victoria-jacinta-allan-daniel-andrews-resignation-labor . live .
5. Web site: Parliament of Victoria – Premier of Victoria. www.parliament.vic.gov.au. 25 November 2018. 25 November 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181125115710/https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/premier-of-victoria. live.
6. William Clark Haines. 7 August 2023. 1 October 2023. 543.
7. 755. Sir John O'Shanassy (KCSG, KCMG, CMG). 21 August 2023. 1 October 2023.
8. 740. William Nicholson. 7 August 2023. 1 October 2023.
9. 562. Richard Heales. 21 August 2023. 1 October 2023.
10. 666. Sir James McCulloch. 7 August 2023. 1 October 2023.
11. Sir Charles Sladen (KCMG). 849. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
12. John Alexander Macpherson. 694. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
13. Sir Charles Gavan Duffy. 469. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
14. James Goodall Francis. 507. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
15. George Briscoe Kerferd. 612. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
16. Sir Graham Berry. 227. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
17. James Service. 839. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
18. Sir Bryan O'Loghlen. 748. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
19. Duncan Gillies. 519. 28 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
20. James Munro. 731. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
21. William Shiels. 843. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
22. Sir James Brown Patterson (KCMG). 764. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
23. Sir George Turner (KCMG). 909. 23 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
24. Allan McLean. 687. 21 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
25. Sir Alexander James Peacock (KCMG). 767. 28 August 2023. 10 October 2023.
26. Sir William Hill Irvine (KB, KCMG). 596. 7 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
27. Sir Thomas Bent. 226. 28 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
28. John Murray. 735. 21 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
29. William Alexander Watt. 931. 21 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
30. George Alexander Elmslie. 1185. 21 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
31. Sir John Bowser. 364. 21 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
32. Sir Harry Sutherland Wightman Lawson (KCMG). 636. 21 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
33. George Michael Prendergast. 979. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
34. John Allan. 985. 18 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
35. Edmond John Hogan. 1290. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
36. Sir William Murray McPherson. 1438. 18 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
37. Sir Stanley Seymour Argyle. 993. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
38. Sir Albert Arthur Dunstan. 1178. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
39. John Cain. 1092. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
40. John Robert MacFarlan. 1407. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
41. Thomas Tuke Hollway. 1300. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
42. Sir John Gladstone Black McDonald. 1401. 15 August 2023. 12 October 2023.
43. John Cain. john-cain-senior. 29 November 2023.
44. Sir Henry Edward Bolte. henry-bolte. 29 November 2023.
45. Sir Rupert James Hamer (KCMG). rupert-hamer. 29 November 2023.
46. Lindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson (KCMG, AO, OAM). lindsay-thompson. 29 November 2023.
47. John Cain. john-cain-junior. 29 November 2023.
48. Joan Elizabeth Kirner (OAM, AC). joan-kirner. 29 November 2023.
49. Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (AC). jeffrey-gibb-kennett. 29 November 2023.
50. Stephen Phillip Bracks. steve-bracks. 29 November 2023.
51. Hon John Mansfield Brumby. john-brumby. 29 November 2023.
52. Edward Norman Baillieu. ted-baillieu. 29 November 2023.
53. The Hon. Dr. Denis Vincent Napthine. denis-napthine. 29 November 2023.
54. The Hon. Daniel Michael Andrews. daniel-andrews. 29 November 2023.
55. The Hon. Jacinta Allan. jacinta-allan. 29 November 2023.