According to Peter Hartcher, "After more than two and a half years of consistently being in a losing position in the Nielsen poll, the great bulk of Labor MPs did not believe the government could win the election that Gillard had called for 14 September.

[2] Ministers and backbenchers began to lose confidence in Gillard's leadership and political judgment following the naming of an election date over seven months early, a promotional tour of Western Sydney and her "captain's pick" which replaced long-serving Northern Territory Senator (and Rudd ally) Trish Crossin with Nova Peris, interrupting an ongoing preselection.

Former state minister Alannah MacTiernan reported a consistent message from voters at doorstops that they would not vote for federal Labor later in the year, and called for Gillard to accept that she could not win an election and to stand down.

Later in March, amid criticism of Gillard's handling of media law reform proposals—called "shambolic" by a key crossbencher[5]—Chief Whip Joel Fitzgibbon confirmed that Labor Party members were "looking at the polls and expressing concerns".

Aside from post-election meetings, this was the first time in the history of the Labor Party that an incumbent leader was elected unopposed at a leadership ballot.