Richo: Gillard will destroy Labor Graham Richardson warns that if Julia Gillard stays, she will lead Labor to near destruction: A loss of between of between 30 and 40 seats is on the cards, a slaughter of epic proportions. It would take Labor a decade to recover... The next generation of political Labor leaders, with the exception of Bill Shorten, would all be gone. You would be entitled to wonder just how much the Labor Party can take... Given that a budget must be prepared by May which must deliver $15 billion of cuts just to allow for the NDIS and the Gonski reforms, the political pain would be immense. There is a real chance that there won't be much left of the modern Labor Party at the end of her reign.... She could ditch the NDIS and Gonski legacy she has been determined to leave behind as a permanent reminder of her prime ministership. That would at least give Wayne Swan some chance of preparing a budget that won't destroy a party he has served all his working life. Most likely though, she will hang on and try to tough it out... This would mean that the legacy Gillard leaves behind would be the near destruction of the modern Labor Party.