Nt chief minister Michael Gunner

2022 - 5 - 10

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Image courtesy of "Mudgeee Guardian"

Manison poised to be new NT chief minister (Mudgeee Guardian)

Current deputy Nicole Manison is the frontrunner to be the Northern Territory's next chief minister after the sudden resignation of Michael Gunner.

At the same time, she thanked Mr Gunner and said she was proud to also call him a friend. He led Labor to a landslide victory in 2016 before his government was returned easily in 2020, partly on the back of its handling of the pandemic. Mr Gunner was first elected to the NT parliament as the member for Fannie Bay in 2008 and became opposition leader in 2015.

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Image courtesy of "ABC News"

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner leaves a polarising ... (ABC News)

In recent weeks, a rumour spread among political observers in the Northern Territory that Michael Gunner would call time on his role.

But closer to home, the Chief Minister has been a polarising figure, both internally within the Labor caucus and externally in different sections of the community. On a national scale, Mr Gunner has come across as a larrikin leader from the north, who at the height of the pandemic had a tendency to drop the odd swear word during live press conferences. At the age of 46, and just five and a half years after his party's landslide victory over the chaos-riddled former CLP government, Mr Gunner is relinquishing the most powerful role in the territory.

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