EXCLUSIVE

KRISTINA KENEALLY has hit the panic button. The Premier moved this weekend to take NSW Labor by the scruff of the neck, ordering head office to bring in new blood and axe dead wood before the state election in March.

The directive - made in a letter to NSW Labor general-secretary Sam Dastyari and leaked to The Sun-Herald - is likely to hasten the end for veteran MPs, including long-time powerbroker Joe Tripodi.

Facing electoral disaster, Ms Keneally has also taken the unusual step of asking Sussex Street to look outside ALP ranks for candidates in order to present a fresh face for the 15-year-old government.

''I write to you as we face the toughest election in our party's history,'' Ms Keneally wrote to Mr Dastyari. ''I am asking that the party begin the candidate selection process for the 2011 election.''