Heart, smarts and pragmatism: why health minister Mark Butler is suddenly a contender as a future PM

Colleagues say Mark Butler is popular amongst both Labor’s cabinet and backbench and can reach across the party’s factional divide. Illustration: Guardian Design

On the day the health minister, Mark Butler, revealed plans for an overhaul of the National Disability Insurance scheme in Canberra in April, his cabinet colleague, Katy Gallagher, witnessed a major shift.

Outlining some $40bn in cuts to the NDIS – a policy the Labor faithful consider a core achievement of the Rudd-Gillard years – Butler sparked a huge backlash from the disability community and risked anger from the party’s rank and file.