Cold sores are more popular than the Liberals. But Jess Wilson can change that

3 months ago 5

In politics, there is real benefit of a leader who people feel they can relate to. But what’s better is a leader who can relate to them.

Since the Liberal leadership spill, I think I’ve seen or heard it mentioned 50 times that dumped leader Brad Battin was a relatable former copper and small-business owner, while Jess Wilson is a privately educated former political adviser.

Jess Wilson took over the Victorian Liberal Party leadership from Brad Battin.

The implication that one was relatable and the other descended from an ivory tower won’t wash with voters. Firstly, nobody cares where Jess, or anybody else, went to school. More than 40 per cent of Victorian families send their children to non-government schools.

Then there’s the fact that she worked for Josh Frydenberg when he was the federal treasurer. Considering the budget is cactus, this experience might also be a positive: signalling that she knows a thing or two about the economy, at a time when so many in Victoria are struggling and frustrated.

More important is the simple fact of Jess’s age. No one is being clobbered right now like young people.

She understands the sense of resentment among young people as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite because this is her milieu. She knows how hard it is to save for a house in your twenties and thirties because she’s done it. She doesn’t have to listen to focus groups, then fake it. She understands.

Wilson enters Parliament House on Tuesday with her husband Aaron Lane and their son Patrick.

Yet, this is apparently not to everyone’s liking. On Monday evening, ahead of the spill, former premier Jeff Kennett had this to say about Wilson’s ascension: “Jess is a very nice, young, educated young lady, but she’s only been in parliament for three years. I’ve always said that someone who aspires to leadership of a political party needs to have 10, 12, 14 years – what I call an apprenticeship”.

Try to wince through the first part of that quote and focus on the second: leadership aspirants need 10 years’ prior service, at least.

Dare I say it, this sort of outdated thinking is one of the reasons cold sores are more popular with young Victorians than the Liberal Party.

The oldest Millennials are now in their mid-forties. Along with the younger Gen Z, we make up about half the population. And to our ears, this reasoning sounds like it’s from the dark ages, or the bar of the Melbourne Club.

Of course, removing another Liberal leader is a risk, and it may backfire. However, because Jess is Jess – comparatively inexperienced and just 35 – she has a good chance of landing serious economic blows on the government in what will surely be a cost-of-living election.

I wonder how many people from these generations have ever had one job for 10 years, let alone stayed in the same position for a full decade before aspiring for a promotion. The longest I’d been in one place, as a teacher, was six years: it felt like an eternity.

Studies show Millennials change jobs, on average, once every three years. We think – rightly, by the way – three years is ample time to master new skills and a new environment. That’s exactly what Wilson has done.

She is widely regarded as having done an excellent job in her shadow portfolios, including treasury. I can concur, having spent a year in parliament with Jess after the last election. Political friends and enemies alike say she’s whip smart, hardworking and a very good communicator. Reports that Labor fears her are surely true.

However, to get the top job at just 35 without having done a long “apprenticeship” is unusual, I grant you.

Look around. Just about everyone in a position of any real political power these days is north of sixty. Mr Trump is 79 and Joe Biden was 82 when he left office. Mr Albanese is a spring chicken in comparison, at just 62. Here in Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is 63.

Outside formal political structures, it’s much the same. The new Pope is on the younger end of the spectrum, at 70. Rupert Murdoch’s going nowhere at 94 and the Dalai Lama’s 90.

I have deep respect for the wisdom that comes with age and experience. But what about the vitality, risk-tolerance and innovation of youth?

Kennett was wrong about another thing: Jess isn’t a nice young lady, she’s fierce. As I suspect the government is about to find out.

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