Update
Michael Daley will replace Luke Foley as the NSW Labor leader.
Mr Daley won a caucus ballot in a “two horse race”, defeating Kogarah MP Chris Minns 33 votes to 12.
Penny Sharpe, a member of the upper house who is the party’s spokeswoman on environment, was elected deputy leader unopposed.
Mr Daley was previously the deputy leader and shadow Treasurer.
It was a comfortable win for Mr Daley, but still a respectable result for Mr Minns, who has been in Parliament less than four years.
It puts Mr Minns in a strong position for a further tilt at the leadership, if Labor fails to win the March, 2019 election.
Some Labor insiders predicted he would win only about six votes.
Mr Daley promised to maintain the pressure on the government on the key issues of overdevelopment, jobs for the regions, cost of living, and health and education.
He said he would present a positive alternative to voters through policies that would be rolled out over the next four months.
Mr Daley said, as a married father of four, he heard every day how people’s lives had got harder in the eight years since the coailition came to office.
Update
Kogarah MP Chris Minns says, if he elected NSW Labor leader, he will campaign to “dump planning laws that are ruining one of the most beautiful cities on earth”.
“We have suburbs across the Sydney basin that are being absolutely destroyed by the NSW Government,” he said.
“We don’t have to accept the developer’s vision for Sydney. we don’t have to accept the concrete jungle, limited open space and absolute or next to no public transport.
“We certainly don’t have to accept what the Premier is laying out for us, and that is immigration policy is responsible for congestion and overdevelopment in our suburbs.
‘It is her planning regime that is singly destroying Sydney and we need to do something about it.”
Mr Minns, accompanied by his wife Anna, confirmed at a media conference he would stand for the party leadership in a ballot on Saturday afternoon.
He said whoever was elected the leader faced “a near insurmountable task”.
The new leader would have to “unite the party, provide a bold policy platform and convince the voters of this state to kick out the government and elect us in their stead”.
“The only shot the Labor Party has, in my opinion, is to present a bold, positive and optimistic plan for NSW and get people excited about change,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to get people excited about change if they absolutely no idea what it looks like.
“Ultimately we must present a plan that families and young people can get behind.”
Mr Minns said, if he was elected Labor leader, he would put young people and families at the centre of all decision making.
Decisions would be made for the long-term future of NSW, not short term policy making, he said.
“I think we have been very good at explaining to the people of this state why they should vote against this government; I think we have been less good at explaining why they should vote for Labor,” he said.
Update
Kogarah MP Chris Minns has confirmed he will be a candidate for the NSW Labor leadership.
Labor MPs will vote for the new leader to replace Luke Foley on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier
Kogarah MP Chris Minns could become the new Labor leader in NSW after less than four years in Parliament.
Deputy leader Michael Daley was the front runner to replace Luke Foley, who resigned on Thursday evening while denying an ABC journalist’s claims of sexual harassment
However, Mr Minns, a former assistant general secretary of Labor’s NSW branch, has long been regarded as a future leader and is believed to have strong support among colleagues.
He is seen as having ability as well as appeal to younger voters.
Mr Minns is a member of the party’s dominant right-wing faction.
Mr Minns, who attended Marist colleges at Penshurst and Kogarah, joined the ALP at 17 and was president of Young Labor.
He served one term on Hurstville Council after being elected in a 2005 by-election.
Mr Minns was assistant general secretary of the NSW Labor Party for two years and worked as an adviser to former Premier Morris Iemma and also for John Robertson when he was Environment Minister.
Mr Minns completed a Masters degree in public policy at Princeton University in the US.
Returning from the US, he became a research fellow at the McKell Institute, working on policy papers and filling the role of a ‘‘stay at home dad’’ while his wife Anna developed a a new business.
Even before he even took his seat in State Parliament, there was media speculation Mr Minns could replace Mr Foley by mid-term.
During a visit to St George Hospital with Mr Minns and other Labor candidates before the March 2015 election, Mr Foley was asked by the Leader whether he was a stop-gap for Mr Minns?
Mr Foley replied, ‘‘I want him to succeed me after I chalk up 10 years as Labor premier’’.
Mr Minns described the reports as ‘‘a lot of rubbish’’.
‘‘It’s pretty malicious, I don’t know where it comes from,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t have any ambitions in that space at all.
‘‘My job is to be a hard-working backbencher in the next parliament and that is exactly what I intend to do.”
After one year in Parliament, Mr Minns was promoted to the front bench as spokesman on water.
