Australia: Surprise PM Leadership challenge – TDS

After the Australian newspapers were calling for a leadership spill all weekend, Prime Minister Turnbull's team must have done a ring-around of the party room to gauge the numbers for a ballot, according to analysts at TD Securities.

Key Quotes

“Tradition suggests that you don't call for a ballot without knowing what the outcome is going to be, and so Turnbull clearly had a good idea that he would remain as leader. The outcome of 48-35 means this issue can be set aside for now, but speculation is rising that an early election may settle the issue (current target May 2019, talk of October).”