JODI McKay is NSW Labor Party leader at the start of her third term of parliament, making her a less experienced leader than some.
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Against that, Ms McKay is battle hardened thanks to the buffeting she endured during her first term in parliament as the member for Newcastle, and in its aftermath when the ICAC exposed the skullduggery that had been wielded against her by enemies within her own party. At the same time, Ms McKay has also enjoyed considerable head office support. Already a household name in the Hunter thanks to her years as a newsreader and journalist with NBN TV, Ms McKay was parachuted into the 2007 election over the sitting ALP member, Bryce Gaudry.
Having lost Newcastle at the 2011 election that brought the Coalition to power, Ms McKay was again endorsed without preselection in the 2015 poll, this time in the Liberal-held seat of Strathfield.
Proving her worth as a campaigner, Ms McKay took Strathfield with a substantial swing, re-establishing herself as a prominent member of Labor's front bench team. And there she would have been likely to stay, at least for a while, had the ALP not chewed through two leaders - Luke Foley and Michael Daley - in quick succession.
Now, having defeated Kogarah MP Chris Minns in the leadership ballot, it appears Ms McKay will have Swansea MP Yasmin Catley as her deputy, meaning the ALP will have two politicians with direct knowledge of the needs of regional NSW, and the difficulties that virtually everywhere in the state outside of Sydney experiences when it comes to attracting funding.
With the National Party in open revolt against the Liberals and calling for more regional spending, the ALP has an historic opportunity to help simplify a regional funding model that sometimes seems more hindrance than help.
And with Ms McKay - who does not appear to owe her position to factional heavies - leading the ALP, the state arm of the party is in a good position to broaden its base of appeal. The Labor Party will always be - and must always be - the party of the worker, but its steadily declining primary vote shows that fundamental change is needed. She might be representing Strathfield, but there will be plenty of people in the Hunter watching to see whether the self-confessed "Girl from Gloucester" can go all the way to becoming premier.
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Further reading: Hunter history a positive and a negative for Jodi McKay
