The most unsuccessful opposition leader in modern Victorian history has just resigned from the role. Matthew Guy called it quits in an announcement on Sunday morning and Tim Smith was there right on cue to rub salt in the wounds.
After failing to take home the chocolates in both 2018 and 2022, Guy announced he’d be putting down the tools via a media release.
BREAKING: @MatthewGuyMP will step down as Opposition Leader. When the next parliamentary party room is called – he’ll ask them to elect a new leadership team – and he won’t be a candidate. @SkyNewsAust #springst pic.twitter.com/1M2eVKKkpL
— Simon Love (@SimoLove) November 27, 2022
The release was fairly straightforward in tone. It went through the motions of what would be excepted of an outgoing leader who wanted to be remembered as somewhat gracious in defeat. Or should we say, defeat(s)?
However, as is always the case when Tim Smith is nearby, he had to stop by and give his two cents.
Re-tweeting Sky News reporter Simon Love, Smith suggested that “The entire parliamentary leadership team should follow him out the door too.”
Mum, dad, the girls are fighting!
The entire parliamentary leadership team should follow him out the door too. https://t.co/jkpf7e7bk7
— Tim Smith (@TCS1983) November 27, 2022
Since drunkenly crashing his car and being pressured into not re-contesting his former seat of Kew, Tim Smith has been on a mission to go down swinging.
Here’s a brief selection of Smith’s fuckups over the past few years.
In September 2020 he attempted to run an anti-Dan Andrews Facebook poll and it backfired spectacularly with the “keep Dan as Premier” option copping 27,000 votes.
He then attempted to use the war in Ukraine as a punchline for an extremely off-putting ~attempted~ joke about pronouns, of all things.
Most recently he beefed with a then 14-year-old journo on Twitter about his drink driving whoopsie. At the time, Smith was 38.
Matthew Guy briefly handed over leadership responsibilities to fellow Liberal Michael O’Brien from December 2018 until September 2021.
It’s unclear at this stage whether O’Brien will seek to resume the leadership responsibilities he held for those three years, or if a new contender will emerge.
One thing’s for sure though — it won’t be Tim Smith.
