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November 19, 2025
Jess Wilson's election as Victoria's new Opposition Leader was the culmination of a swift rise through Liberal Party ranks.
Ms Wilson, 35, was described by former boss Josh Frydenberg on Tuesday as "smart, sensible and determined", an hour after she became the first female leader of the state party. Her election came just three years after her entrance to politics in 2022 as the MP for Kew.
Ms Wilson grew up in Mont Albert, in Melbourne's east, surrounded by politics: her father, Ron Wilson, whom she described as her "first political hero", was also a state Liberal MP.
"While it might be said that I followed in Dad's footsteps as president of Monash Liberal Club, as Victorian Young Liberal state president and now as a member of this Assembly, I have also carved out my own path," she said.
Ms Wilson attended high school at Strathcona Girls' Grammar and completed law and arts degrees at Monash University, before she was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
She began her career at KPMG, before serving as an adviser to Mr Frydenberg while he was federal treasurer, then moving to the positions of executive director and company secretary at the Business Council of Australia.
Ms Wilson, married with a young son, replaced Brad Battin as leader, elected unopposed following a spill motion.
This came less than a year after Ms Wilson, having served just two years in parliament, lost a leadership challenge to Mr Battin.
Just last month, Mr Battin handed her the coveted Treasury portfolio, a move that shunted one of his key supporters, James Newbury, into the position of legal affairs spokesman.
Ms Wilson's former boss at the BCA, Jennifer Westacott, now chancellor of Western Sydney University and a member of the Reserve Bank's governance board, described her as a "really outstanding Australian".
"A person of great integrity and intellect, a person of tremendous capacity for hard work but a person of great empathy, a person who understands economic issues or about peoples' lives, a person who really understands what's in the national interest and a person who is able to collaborate and work with people in a way that is really results focused," Professor Westacott told The Australian.
Mr Frydenberg lauded her elevation. "Jess is smart, sensible and determined, and has what it takes to lead the state and create a better future for all Victorians," he said on social media on Tuesday.
"I have seen first-hand her ability to get across complex policy and to communicate ideas effectively and with empathy. She has, at all times, reflected the very best values."
Senator James Paterson, the most senior Victorian in the federal Liberal party room and a long time Wilson ally, said he believed the party could win the state election under her leadership.
"Victoria faces profound economic and fiscal challenges and needs a leader who can turn the state around," Senator Paterson said. "Jess Wilson has the depth, substance and energy to not just save Victoria from 16 years of Labor, but restore hope that so many Victorians have lost. She is a next-generation leader who understands the pressures facing young families with the cost of living and home ownership because she's lived them too."
Emerging from the party room as new Victorian Liberal leader, Ms Wilson pledged to get the state's budget back under control and end the crime crisis under a "new-generation Liberal team".
Ms Wilson said her other priorities would focus on access to healthcare and home ownership.
"They are my team's clear priorities, and I will work every day for Victorians to make sure at the next election they have a clear alternative, a clear and credible alternative to vote for that gives them hope for the future of Victoria," she said.