Rudd joins Hawke, Gorton as dumped PMs

Kevin Rudd has joined Bob Hawke as the only Labor prime minister to be dumped by his own party.

Rudd, who just a year ago was rated Australia's most popular prime minister in voter polls, has become one of the shortest-serving prime minister's since William McMahon was beaten by Gough Whitlam in 1972 after being in the top job for just 1 year and 8 months.

Hawke was ousted as prime minister in 1991 after Paul Keating defeated him in a party-room ballot with 56 votes to 51. Keating had first challenged Hawke six months earlier and failed.

Hawke came to power in 1983 and saw off Malcolm Fraser, Andrew Peacock, John Howard in the 1987 election and Peacock again in 1990.

Hawke, like Rudd, was incredibly popular with the Australian electorate during his leadership, scoring one of the highest approval ratings in an ACNielson poll.

His downfall followed the worldwide recession in the late 1980s when Australia's unemployment rose sharply in the second half of 1991, and was exacerbated by a strong showing from Opposition leader John Hewson with his "Fightback!" economic policy package.

Keating-led Labor beat the Hewson Liberals in the 1993 election, but he lost power in 1996 to John Howard.

Eleven years later Howard, Australia's second-longest serving prime minister, lost the 2007 election to Kevin Rudd and Labor.

The only other prime minister to be dumped by their own party in office aside from Hawke was John Gorton, who stood down as leader of the Liberal Party after a tied party vote in March 1971.

He was replaced by William McMahon but surprisingly contested the party's deputy leadership and won, before being sacked by McMahon a few months later.