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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Henry Belot

Who is Jess Wilson and should the Victorian Labor government be worried?

Jess Wilson speaks to the media after her election as Victorian opposition leader
Liberals say Jess Wilson’s age matches the profile of voters the party is chasing and her gender provides a chance to present a ‘different and compelling face’. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Within minutes of becoming the first woman to lead the Victorian Liberals, 35-year-old Jess Wilson made a strategic shift that should worry Labor.

Her predecessor, Brad Battin, a former police officer, had spent almost a year focused overwhelmingly on crime. He was a man so eager to campaign on the issue, he once detoured to the scene of a fatal stabbing to hold a press conference before the body had been removed.

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