Ms Fentiman announced yesterday that she would contest the leadership, but confirmed her withdrawal in a statement this morning.
“It is clear that a majority of Labor members of parliament will support Steven Miles to be the next leader of the Labor party, and therefore the next premier of Queensland,” Ms. Fentiman said. “As a result, I will not be standing as a candidate for the Labor leadership when caucus meets on Friday.
“Steven is a longstanding friend, and he will have my full support as premier of Queensland.”
Outgoing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had given Mr. Miles a strong endorsement as her successor at her last press conference, following her unexpected resignation on Sunday, nearly a year before what would have been her fourth state election.
What was initially a three-way race between Mr. Miles, Ms. Fentiman, and Treasurer Cameron Dick narrowed to two after two factions reached a deal on Monday night.
Mr. Dick’s right grouping is believed to have accepted his taking the role of deputy premier in exchange for withdrawing, and possibly other concessions. Mr. Miles is a member of a left faction comprised of United Workers Union MPs.
There had initially been a split in the Left faction between Mr. Miles and Ms. Fentiman, which the latter ended by withdrawing.
Queensland’s Labor left faction has 25 of the government’s 52 MPs—12 of whom are aligned to the union—while 18 are in the right faction and nine in the so-called “Old Guard.”
The deal ensured Mr. Miles would have won at least 30 votes in the party room ballot when Labor’s caucus meets on Friday, giving Ms. Fentiman the choice of a very public loss, or withdrawal.
Mr. Miles was initially elected to parliament in 2015 as the member for the Brisbane seat of Mt Coot-tha—the same election that made Ms. Palaszczuk premier. He is now the member for Murrumba.
Ms. Palaszczuk immediately appointed him to cabinet, as Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef. But it was his elevation to the health portfolio in 2017 that saw him gain a high public profile, giving regular COVID-19 updates alongside the premier and chief health officer, and defending the state’s border closures.
The new premier’s closeness to Ms. Palaszczuk means Queenslanders are likely to see less of a radical change in direction than if Ms. Fentiman had been elected. She told MPs she offered a very different approach to Ms. Palaszczuk’s top-down governing style, which regularly saw backbenchers complaining about being left out of the loop.
Ms. Palaszczuk’s resignation, after eight years in the top job, shocked Queenslanders.
“I have given it my all and I have run a marathon,” she said on Sunday. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to community service; there’s no greater honour.”
As recently as last week, the outgoing premier denied that she planned to step down, insisting she was “very excited” to lead Labor into what would have been her fourth election. But polling suggests support for Ms. Palaszczuk has dwindled since the pandemic, making it likely Labor would lose.
