Julia Gillard hits out at 'self-indulgent' leadership challenge My political party, the Labor party that I love dearly, was self-indulgent; our eyes were on ourselves rather than ... being focused on the nation. It was an unseemly display, but out of that has come clarity. Following the aborted coup, Mr Rudd said he would no longer seek the party's leadership. Though his approval ratings are much higher than Ms Gillard's, Mr Rudd lacks the support of his colleagues and last year decisively lost a leadership challenge. Ms Gillard insisted she now has the complete backing of her party and welcomed Mr Rudd's assurance that he will no longer seek to replace her. "It is now very clear indeed that I have the confidence of my colleagues to lead the Labor Party and to remain as Prime Minister," she said. It is also clear that Kevin Rudd has acknowledged he will never lead the Labor party again. Ms Gillard has reduced her cabinet from 21 to 20 ministers and retained a key Rudd backer, Anthony Albanese, who is a Labor power broker and a dominant presence on the floor of parliament. Mr Albanese has repeatedly pledged support for the prime minister despite backing Mr Rudd at last year's challenge and again last week. Ms Gillard also announced the closure of the stand-alone department of climate change, a creation of Mr Rudd's which will be folded into a broader industry and innovation department. Most commentators believe Ms Gillard has now affirmed her dominance of the parliamentary party and is likely to lead Labor to the election, without further leadership murmurings. Though she may be free of the constant leaking and undermining by backers of Mr Rudd, it remains to be seen whether she can lift the run of dismal polls which has emboldened her political opponents. A new poll at the weekend found 71 per cent per cent of people believed the prime minister had been damaged by the party's leadership instability.