THE TELEGRAPH: She is the Welsh-born Australian prime minister who is fighting in a neck and neck race for every last vote, including those cast by Australians in Britain.
It was only in June that Julia Gillard, 48, seized the job from her former boss, in a ruthless internal Labour Party coup that she said was essential to keeping the Left in power – but which critics saw as a treacherous stab in the back for Kevin Rudd, her hapless predecessor.
Now, with less than a week left until the election she promised she could win, Australia's first woman prime minister is engaged in a frantic nationwide tour after opinion polls showed her neck and neck with the opposition leader, Tony Abbott, 52.
From a 10 point lead before the campaign began, Labour slipped to being just two points ahead of the rival Liberal-National Coalition, and some recent polls have even put the party behind.
The harsh reality for Ms Gillard is that, despite having strong support among women voters, she is in danger of becoming one of the shortest tenures of any Australian prime minister – because so many Australian men do not warm to her.
Talking to The Sunday Telegraph on her campaign plane, she refused to speculate on the reasons – and whether, as some suggest, her own lack of a family as an unmarried career politician makes her even more intimidating to already apprehensive Australian men.
"At this stage I will leave it in the hands of the Australian people, both men and women, to make their decisions on election day, but I believe it will come down to choices about what's better for people's futures for them and their families," she said.
But she defended her decision to oust Mr Rudd, whose popularity had plummeted since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in 2007, making clear she had no regrets about having moved in for the kill. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Tasmania | Saturday, August 14, 2010
