Victorian Premiers Since 1855

This table is a complete list of Victorian Premiers since 1855.

Victoria was a British colony in 1855 when it was granted responsible government. This meant that a bicameral parliament (Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council) was established, with the government being formed from the parties or groups that could command a majority in the lower house, the Legislative Assembly.

William Haines was the first premier of Victoria, although this title wasn’t necessarily used. Premiers were sometimes called prime minister. The early premiers usually held another portfolio, such as Chief Secretary.

Haines was appointed in November 1855. The first elections were held in September-October 1856.

Following the retirement of the 48th Premier, Daniel Andrews, on September 27, 2023, the seven longest-serving premiers are: Sir Henry Bolte (Lib), Albert Dunstan (CP – 2 terms), Sir James McCulloch (no party – 4 terms), Daniel Andrews (ALP), Sir Rupert Hamer (Lib), John Cain Jr. (ALP), and Steve Bracks (ALP).

Australian Labor Party premiers are shaded yellow in the table.

Premiers of Victoria Since 1855
No.	Name	Party	Commenced	Left	Term
1.	William Haines	–	30 Nov 1855	11 Mar 1857	1 year, 3 months, 12 days (468 days)
2.	John O’Shanassy	–	11 Mar 1857	29 Apr 1857	1 month, 19 days (50 days)
	William Haines	–	29 Apr 1857	10 Mar 1858	10 months, 9 days
	John O’Shanassy	–	10 Mar 1858	27 Oct 1859	1 year, 7 months, 17 days
3.	William Nicholson	–	27 Oct 1859	26 Nov 1860	1 year, 1 month
4.	Richard Heales	–	26 Nov 1860	14 Nov 1861	11 months, 19 days
	John O’Shanassy	–	14 Nov 1861	27 Jun 1863	1 year, 7 months, 13 days
5.	James McCulloch	–	27 Jun 1863	06 May 1868	4 years, 9 months, 9 days
6.	Charles Sladen	–	06 May 1868	11 Jul 1868	2 months, 5 days
	James McCulloch	–	11 Jul 1868	20 Sep 1869	1 year, 2 months, 9 days
7.	John Alexander MacPherson	–	20 Sep 1869	09 Apr 1870	6 months, 20 days
	(Sir) James McCulloch	–	09 Apr 1870	19 Jun 1871	1 year, 2 months, 10 days
8.	Charles Gavan Duffy	–	19 Jun 1871	10 Jun 1872	11 months, 22 days
9.	James Francis	–	10 Jun 1872	31 Jul 1874	2 years, 1 month, 21 days
10.	George Kerferd	–	31 Jul 1874	07 Aug 1875	1 year, 7 days
11.	Graham Berry	–	07 Aug 1875	20 Oct 1875	2 months, 13 days
	(Sir) James McCulloch	–	20 Oct 1875	21 May 1877	1 year, 7 months, 1 day
	Graham Berry	–	21 May 1877	05 Mar 1880	2 years, 9 months, 12 days
12.	James Service	–	05 Mar 1880	03 Aug 1880	4 months, 29 days
	Graham Berry	–	03 Aug 1880	09 Jul 1881	11 months, 6 days
13.	(Sir) Bryan O’Loghlen	–	09 Jul 1881	08 Mar 1883	1 year, 8 months
	James Service	–	08 Mar 1883	18 Feb 1886	2 years, 11 months, 10 days
14.	Duncan Gillies	Conservative-Liberal Coalition	18 Feb 1886	05 Nov 1890	4 years, 8 months, 18 days
15.	James Munro	National Liberal	05 Nov 1890	16 Feb 1892	1 year, 3 months, 11 days
16.	William Shiels	Liberal	16 Feb 1892	23 Jan 1893	11 months, 7 days
17.	James Patterson	Conservative	23 Jan 1893	27 Sep 1893	8 months, 4 days
	(Sir) George Turner	Liberal	27 Sep 1894	05 Dec 1899	5 years, 2 months, 8 days
18.	Allan McLean	Liberal	05 Dec 1899	19 Nov 1900	11 months, 14 days
19.	George Turner	Liberal	19 Nov 1900	12 Feb 1901	2 months, 24 days
20.	Alexander Peacock	Liberal	12 Feb 1901	10 Jun 1902	1 year, 3 months, 29 days
21.	William Hill Irvine	Reform	10 Jun 1902	16 Feb 1904	1 year, 8 months, 6 days
22.	Thomas Bent	Reform	16 Feb 1904	08 Jan 1909	4 years, 10 months, 23 days
23.	John Murray	Liberal	08 Jan 1909	18 May 1912	3 years, 4 months, 10 days
24.	William Alexander Watt	Liberal	18 May 1912	09 Dec 1913	1 year, 6 months, 21 days
25.	George Alexander Elmslie	ALP	09 Dec 1913	22 Dec 1913	13 days
	William Alexander Watt	Liberal	22 Dec 1913	18 Jun 1914	5 months, 27 days
	Alexander Peacock	Liberal	18 Jun 1914	29 Nov 1917	3 years, 5 months, 11 days
26.	John Bowser	Nationalist	29 Nov 1917	21 Mar 1918	3 months, 20 days
27.	Harry Lawson	Nationalist	21 Mar 1918	28 Apr 1924	5 years, 1 month, 7 days
	Alexander Peacock	Nationalist	28 Apr 1924	18 Jul 1924	2 months, 20 days
28.	George Michael Prendergast	ALP	18 Jul 1924	18 Nov 1924	4 months
29.	John Allan	Country/Nationalist	18 Nov 1924	20 May 1927	2 years, 6 months, 2 days
30.	Edmond John Hogan	ALP	20 May 1927	22 Nov 1928	1 years, 6 months, 2 days
31.	William McPherson	Nationalist	22 Nov 1928	12 Dec 1929	1 year, 20 days
	Edmond John Hogan	ALP	12 Dec 1929	19 May 1932	2 years, 5 months, 7 days
32.	(Sir) Stanley Argyle	UAP	19 May 1932	02 Apr 1935	2 years, 10 months, 14 days
33.	Albert Dunstan	Country Party	02 Apr 1935	14 Sep 1943	8 years, 5 months, 12 days
34.	John Cain, senior	ALP	14 Sep 1943	18 Sep 1943	4 days
	Albert Dunstan	Country Party	18 Sep 1943	02 Oct 1945	2 years, 14 days
35.	Ian MacFarlan	Liberal	02 Oct 1945	21 Nov 1945	7 weeks, 1 day
	John Cain, senior	ALP	21 Nov 1945	20 Nov 1947	2 years
36.	Thomas Tuke Hollway	Liberal/Liberal and Country	20 Nov 1947	03 Dec 1948	1 year, 1 week, 6 days
	Thomas Tuke Hollway	Liberal	03 Dec 1948	27 Jun 1950	1 year, 6 months, 24 days
37.	(Sir) John McDonald	Country Party	27 Jun 1950	28 Oct 1952	4 months, 1 day
	Thomas Tuke Hollway	Independent	28 Oct 1952	31 Oct 1952	3 days
	(Sir) John McDonald	Country Party	31 Oct 1952	17 Dec 1952	6 weeks, 4 days
	John Cain, senior	ALP	17 Dec 1952	07 Jun 1955	2 years, 5 months, 21 days
38.	(Sir) Henry Bolte	Liberal and Country/Liberal	07 Jun 1955	23 Aug 1972	17 years, 2 months, 16 days
39.	(Sir) Rupert James Hamer	Liberal	23 Aug 1972	05 Jun 1981	8 years, 9 months, 13 days
40.	Lindsay Thompson	Liberal	05 Jun 1981	08 Apr 1982	10 months, 3 days
41.	John Cain, junior	ALP	08 Apr 1982	10 Aug 1990	8 years, 4 months, 2 days
42.	Joan Elizabeth Kirner	ALP	10 Aug 1990	06 Oct 1992	2 years, 1 month, 26 days
43.	Jeffrey Gibb Kennett	Liberal/National	06 Oct 1992	19 Oct 1999	7 years, 13 days
44.	Stephen Phillip Bracks	ALP	19 Oct 1999	30 Jul 2007	7 years, 8 months, 11 days
45.	John Mansfield Brumby	ALP	30 Jul 2007	02 Dec 2010	3 years, 4 months, 2 days
46.	Edward (Ted) Norman Baillieu	Liberal/National	02 Dec 2010	06 Mar 2013	2 years, 3 months, 4 days
47.	Denis Vincent Napthine	Liberal/National	06 Mar 2013	04 Dec 2014	1 year, 8 months, 26 days
48.	Daniel Michael Andrews	ALP	04 Dec 2014	27 Sep 2023	8 years, 9 months, 23 days
49.	Jacinta Marie Allan	ALP	27 Sep 2023		1 day

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