Both played a role, but ultimately it was his personality that caused the electorate, and then his colleagues, to turn away from the man who less than two years ago was "Mr Popularity''.

Kevin Rudd was a confident man, but not a good listener. He believed he had all the answers and was rarely interested in the views of others. He had little tolerance for those who disagreed with him and was dismissive of detractors - even well-intentioned ones.

His policies weren't all bad, just badly articulated and, at times, poorly executed. That was another problem for Mr Rudd: he wasn't a salesman.

Yesterday, as caucus members filed in for a vote that would end his prime ministership, some articulated their frustration.

"Time and time again we've been sent out to defend decisions in which we had no say and which had been damaging to our personal standing," said one.

Mr Rudd was never going to survive that sort of sentiment.

And so yesterday, Labor delivered Julia Gillard the leadership in one of the quickest, cleanest challenges in Australian political history.

Immediately, Ms Gillard began to prove that Kevin Rudd's faults were not her own.

She cancelled government advertising and invited the mining industry to the negotiating table. She's yet to make her intentions clear on an emissions trading scheme or on asylum seekers - two issues that helped seal her predecessor's fate.

But she will have to do so soon. Labor needs a clear and committed vision before the next election.

It is important to acknowledge here that Julia Gillard has made history in becoming our first female prime minister.

Another hole has been punched in the glass ceiling for Australian women and that is something to be celebrated.

However, being a woman is not enough on its own for Ms Gillard.

She will have a very short period of grace in which she can bask in the glory of her history-making appointment.

After that, she will have to deliver. An election will be held sooner rather than later and she will need, between now and then, to prove that she has what it takes to draw Labor out of the doldrums.

Man or woman, that will be no easy task.