Former Labor Leader Mark Latham says that the Labor caucus terminated Kevin Rudd 'ruthlessly', but that all political honeymoons end.
'The moment he fell away in the polls, they terminated him', Latham told Sky News.
He said factional chiefs thought 'Rudd shouldn't have brushed his teeth in the morning unless he got clearance'
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Latham says he would have been' very surprised' if Rudd had lost the election.
'He had a phenomenal honeymoon', Latham said, but 'as all leaders find, the honeymoon inevitably ends.'
Latham lost to John Howard in 2004.
Latham doesn't blame Gillard
Latham called Gillard skilled, and defended her actions.
'She really had to act, because the party machine men could have put someone else up.'
Latham said the party men were determined to get rid of Rudd because his support was in 'terminal decline.'
If Rudd's support had diminished so badly, he said, almost anyone could have beat him.
'They would have easily found someone else'. Even Wayne Swan could have had a go, he said.
Latham was asked if Gillard had likely been likely plotting against Rudd.
'I haven't seen any evidence', he said.
Rudd has never had much support in the caucus, Latham said.
He denied that she was entirely in the pockets of Labor factions, but said she would have to 'live with the consequences' of dealing with them.
