But Mr Chalmers was considering his options on Wednesday night after receiving strong encouragement - especially from Victorians - to contest Mr Albanese for the leadership. "Labor needs to rebuild, refresh and renew and I want to play a prominent role in that. What role is to be determined," he said. In the box seat: Anthony Albanese would be made leader unopposed if Jim Chalmers pulls out. Credit:Wolter Peeters Victorian MPs who are furious at what they see as a "deal" stitched up in NSW have urged Mr Chalmers to contest the ballot, even though his chances of succeeding are slim. Some believe the party would face "six years in opposition" under Mr Albanese and describe him as too "old and tired" to win. Under the likely arrangement, Mr Chalmers would become deputy leader, while Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally would serve as Labor's leader and deputy leader in the Senate.

Both women threw their support behind Mr Albanese on Wednesday - as they did in 2013 - with Senator Wong labelling him "the outstanding parliamentarian of our generation". Loading The manoeuvre would involve dumping Shoppies union figure Don Farrell as deputy Senate leader, which would risk the right-wing union "going crazy". "The SDA will be furious," one source said. Mr Chalmers, 41, would position himself as a fresh face who can repair the damage Labor suffered in his home state at the weekend. But many senior Labor figures are "fuming" at his conduct this week after he floated himself as a leadership contender on the ABC's Q&A program on Monday night.

An MP in the NSW Right said Mr Chalmers had "massively overestimated the level of support he has" and the powerful faction would actively campaign against him if he nominated for the leadership position. "The view is we should just give Albo his chance," the MP said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Paddy Crumlin said Mr Chalmers lacked the profile to become Labor leader. "No-one knows Chalmers, who is he? He's another blow-in," he said. "Australians didn’t know who [Prime Minister Scott] Morrison was, let alone Chalmers."

Agriculture spokesman and NSW right figure Joel Fitzgibbon - who had threatened to run for the leadership himself - declared his support for Mr Albanese on Wednesday after extracting a promise the party would do more for regional voters. Loading In a preview of the internal debate to come about Labor's election loss, Mr Bowen used his withdrawal from the contest to warn the party it had lost support from religious voters. His electorate of McMahon, in Sydney's west, is home to large Catholic and Muslim populations and recorded the third highest "no" vote of any electorate in the same-sex marriage postal survey. "People of faith no longer feel that progressive politics cares about them," Mr Bowen said. "These are people with a social conscience who want to be included in the progressive movement. We need to tackle this urgently. I think this is an issue from the federal election that we haven't yet focused on." Mr Bowen claimed to have support from a majority of his parliamentary caucus colleagues, but acknowledged he was not popular enough among the party's rank-and-file membership to win a leadership ballot.