2026 ACT Greens leadership ballot

On 20 April 2026, Rattenbury announced his impending retirement which occurred on 15 May 2026.^[1]

He had been planning to step down sometime in the 11th Assembly since at least October 2024, having signalled to the party that the election that year would be his last. There has been speculation that his retirement is to do with discussions of the potential of a Green–Liberal government that was shot down by the Greens membership at the start of 2026, however Rattenbury has denied this and reaffirmed that the move has been in the pipeline for some time. He cited age, length of his tenure and the nature of the role as tough and wearying, among other factors, as reasons for his retirement.^[2]

Rattenbury's resignation triggered a countback in his electorate of Kurrajong. Rebecca Vassarotti, the second ACT Greens lead candidate in Kurrajong at the last election, nominated for the countback was successfully elected. Vassarotti was the party's first deputy leader, being elected alongside the party's slate of candidates for the 2024 election at which she was not re-elected.^[3]

Rattenbury's resignation from the Assembly also automatically transferred the leadership to then deputy Jo Clay who called a leadership election. While she has been referred to as "interim" or "acting" leader by some, Clay has officially held the office in its full capacity since Rattenbury's retirement. This left the deputy leadership vacant in the period between Rattenbury's resignation and the election.^[4]

Rebecca Vassarotti left the door open to running for the leadership prior to her confirmation as Shane Rattenbury's successor in the seat of Kurrajong, later confirming her ambition after being sworn in and becoming eligible.^[5][6]

The ACT Greens use a ballot of solely the membership to elect parliamentary leaders in contrast to most other Australian political parties which use caucus or party room votes to elect their leaders.^[7]

The ACT Greens are so far the only significant party in Australia to use this method, though some other parties have provisions to use similar systems if a office of leader is established.^[8]

• 20 April 2026 — Shane Rattenbury announces his impending retirement
• 15 April 2026 — Shane Rattenbury resigns from the Assembly; Jo Clay officially assumes the leadership
• 4 June 2026 — Rebecca Vassarotti is elected in a countback for the seat of Kurrajong
• 10 June 2026 — Rebecca Vassarotti is sworn in as a Member of the Legislative Assembly
• 15 June 2026 — Voting opens
• 16 June 2026 — A candidates forum is held at the party office
• 28 June 2026 — Voting closes
• 29 June 2026 — Results are declared at the monthly members' Forum
• 30 June 2026 — Results are announced to the public

The election had 53% turnout with some ballots being left blank for the deputy leadership. Clay won the leadership by a margin of nearly two to one and Braddock was confirmed with eighty-six percent of the vote. Seek further candidates received less than one percent in the leadership election and fourteen percent for the deputy leadership, a typical result for an uncontested election.^[7]

Following the election Clay ruled out any possibility of a coalition with either Labor or the Canberra Liberals in this term.^[11]

The Greens also confirmed the composition of party's frontbench.

The confidence and supply agreement between the Greens and Labor, an agreement between the leaders of the two parties, has lapsed following the change in leader and will need to be either re-negotiated or re-signed. The newly established Advisory Arrangements Working Group (AAWG) will be advising the partyroom on what that will look like in consultation with the party membership. They are hosting a politics in the pub with Jo Clay on 2 July and a confidential members-only workshop at some point in the future.^[12]