Live: NSW Premier Mike Baird retires, Gladys Berejiklian to contest leadership

• 4:55pm

Berejiklian set to be elected leader after factions swing behind her

Mike Baird has declared Gladys Berejiklian would be "an outstanding Premier" as she prepares to become only the second woman to hold the job in NSW, reports the Herald's State Political Editor Sean Nicholls. 

"No doubt about it," Mr Baird said of the NSW Treasurer on Thursday after his shock announcement that he will quit politics next week.

"She's been outstanding. Incredibly loyal, hardworking, did a first-class job in transport and treasury. She, if given the privilege of the support of the party room, would make an outstanding Premier."

Ms Berejiklian is set to be elected leader when the Liberal party room meets at 10am on Monday.

Mr Berejiklian, who is with the party's left faction, will form a ticket with the right's finance minister Dominic Perrottet to become deputy Liberal leader.

The centre right and right factions have swung behind Ms Berejiklian under the arrangement, delivering her the leadership.

On that note, we are going to wrap up our live coverage of this historic day in NSW politics. 

Read all the coverage from our state political team in the links below.

• Baird quits as NSW Premier
• Mike Baird backs Gladys Berejiklian as 'an outstanding Premier'
• Baird resignation: politics can be hard on families, even political ones
• After Baird's resignation, who will emerge as winners and losers?
• Mike Baird, 'the outstanding political leader in Australia'

Thanks for joining us. 

• 4:42pm

'Your time is now. You go, girl'

Five reasons why it's time for Gladys Berejiklian from Fairfax columnist Jenna Price. 

1. Her time really is now. She was a strong contender when O'Farrell stepped down but the numbers didn't stack up. 

2. This is not about how women are better than men – no need to remind us of Margaret Thatcher or Pauline Nyiramasuhuko

3. She's no social conservative. Even a Labor member of NSW Parliament describes her work on reproductive rights as excellent. 

4. She has an unpronounceable surname. Think that's trivial? She's in a party filled with straight white men with straight white names and those people don't represent us anymore. 

5. It's ok. It's no longer a bad sign to have a women premier and she can actually do the job. In Australia, we have moved on from turning to women premiers only when the blokes have trashed the hotel room.

• 4:29pm

A brief timeline of Baird's premiership

April 2014:  Elected as 44th Premier of NSW, after Barry O'Farrell steps down over a $3,000 bottle of Penfold's Grange. 

September 2014: Protests  over NSW lockout laws build as businesses feel the pinch. 

December 2014: 10 civilians are taken hostage in Sydney's Lindt Café 

March 2015: Baird wins a second term with a smaller majority 

June 2016: The NSW economy and the state's coffers look on the up with no net debt. 

July 2016: Baird announces a surprise ban on greyhound racing following a damning Four Corners report and a special commission that found up to 68,000 dogs had been killed in just over a decade. 

September 2016: The Premier's approval ratings plummet to as low as 39 per cent.  

October 2016: Baird reverses the greyhound ban 

November, 2016: Coalition partner, the Nationals, suffer an unprecedented loss in the Orange by-election, triggering a spill in the National Party and the end of Troy Grant's deputy premiership.

December 2016: 

His strong management of the economy continues, with the predicted annual NSW budget surplus hitting $1.8 billion for the next four years. 

Baird announces a slight relaxation of the lock-out laws, pushing closing times back half-an-hour and extending bottle shop trading hours until 11pm.

January 19 2017: The Premier announces his shock resignation. 

• 3:44pm

Gladys Berejiklian: 'I would like to make it clear I will be standing'

When the Liberal party room meets on Monday at 10am, NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian will be standing for premier, she has confirmed.

Ms Berejiklian said she is "deeply saddened" by Mike Baird's decision to retire from politics.

"Mike has been an inspiring leader and a man of enormous integrity who has left an outstanding and indelible mark on the state of NSW," she said. 

"On a personal note, he has been a great leader and friend. I have been proud to work with him for six years in the ministry and for three of those as his Deputy." 

Ms Berejiklian said she would be standing to become the 45th Premier of NSW. 

"Today is Mike's day – but I would like to make it clear that I will be standing for the leadership," she said. 

• 3:38pm

Winners and losers

The Herald's Jacob Saulwick and Harriet Alexander have compiled this list on who's likely to be on the inner and outer circles of a future Liberal government, likely to take shape next week. 

Rob Stokes

If Rob Stokes was to move from the planning portfolio, it might be, in Mike Baird's estimation, a loss for the area. According to Baird, there may never have been "a planning minister more credentialled in the history of this country" than the planning law PhD holding Stokes. 

Possibly Berejiklian's main contender, if Stokes does not claim the leadership he's likely to stay in planning.

Andrew Constance

Besting Berejiklian from within the Treasurer's own moderate faction may be too big an ask too soon for Andrew Constance. The two swapped jobs after the 2015 election, when Constance moved to transport and Berejiklian to treasury. Since then, Constance has largely had to deal with issues of Berejiklian's creating. 

Dominic Perrottet

The Finance Minister may emerge as one of the chief beneficiaries of Baird's surprise departure. Dominic Perrottet, only 34, is considered one of the conservative Liberal candidates most likely to succeed. As such, he is a good chance to be elevated – if not to the premier's job, then potentially to the treasury or to deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

Adrian Piccoli and Jillian Skinner

The Education Minister and Health Minister were potentially facing the axe in a planned reshuffle now overshadowed by Baird's departure. 

Read the full list here

• 3:22pm

Bishop hopes Baird's resignation will put an end to the march of socialism

The former speaker of the House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop, has told Sky News she hopes Mr Baird's resignation will put an end to socialism's influence in the Liberal party. 

Ms Bishop has used socialists as somewhat of a punching bag on her appearances on Sky News recently, blaming them for the resignation of former Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley over an expenses scandal. 

• 3:07pm

Greens take aim at Baird

NSW Greens MPs have issued a joint statement wishing the Premier well in retirement but condemning his decisions on biodiversity, lockout laws, greyhound racing, forced amalgamations, tree destruction, public education, privatisation and police powers. 

They took particular aim at the government's WestConnex project which has been met with widespread protests over forced aquisitions and environmental concerns. 

"The concerted community action against the Premier's dirty WestConnex tollroad certainly seems to have taken its toll on Mr Baird," they said in a statement.

"Opposition to this project is widespread and growing daily and whoever follows Baird as Premier should immediately set up an independent review to look at better options."

• 2:59pm

Why the NSW premier's departure is bad news for Malcolm Turnbull

Mike Baird has done a Steve Bracks, Malcolm Turnbull has lost a crucial ally and the Australian political landscape will be much poorer for the shock departure of the New South Wales premier. 

Baird joins the most exclusive club of Australian leaders: those who jump before their colleagues or the voters decide their time is up. The surprise is that he has done it so soon. 

No wonder South Australia's Labor Premier Jay Weatherill tweeted "say it aint so" as soon as he heard the news. Weatherill said Baird's advocacy within the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) would be a huge loss and he is dead right.

Read Michael Gordon's reasons for why the Premier's departure is bad news for the Prime Minister here. 

• 2:50pm

Skinner backs Gladys Berejiklian

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner has reportedly backed Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian to be the next premier of NSW. 

The veteran politician, who is under pressure to hold onto her health portfolio in the looming reshuffle, told the Mosman Daily that she regarded herself as "a bit of a mentor for Gladys."

"I make no secret I am supporting Gladys Berejiklian, I always have done," Ms Skinner said.

"She's really got her head screwed on. She understands the importance of the economics of the state but also all of the things I'm involved in." 

Ms Skinner has also sent out a formal release welcoming new Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt since Mr Baird's resignation. 

A spokeswoman said the pair had a "commitment to work together".

• 2:32pm

The social media Premier

Poles and wires, light rail, WestConnex, they might be the signature infrastructure projects of the state's 44th Premier, but he's likely to also be remembered for his social media prowess. 

True to form, he found his way around the mainstream print and broadcast media on Thursday and straight into the social media feeds of his constituents. 

Here's a selection of a few of his other clangers or zingers, depending on which way you swing. 

Tweeting The Bachelor - a winner on most counts. 

• 2:18pm

Does Baird leave an education legacy?

NSW teachers have praised the Baird government's commitment to needs-based school funding, which often saw the Premier at loggerheads with his Liberal counterparts in Canberra. 

Mr Baird said his commitment to the Gillard Government's Gonski reforms as one of his proudest achievements during his time in office in his resignation on Thursday. 

The NSW Teachers Federation said Mr Baird should take pride in the extra resources that his government had directed towards the neediest students in the state.

"Teachers and Principals across NSW today acknowledge the fine work and legacy of Mr Baird and his Government in enabling opportunity and high standards for all school students and communities in the state stemming from their full policy commitment to Gonski funding," they said. 

While Mr Baird has earned the praise of teachers, state budget figures show that despite record total levels of school funding, the share directed to education has shrunk over the past decade. Education now makes up 21 per cent of total spending compared with 26 per cent in 2003.  

• 1:49pm

Day in review

Sean Nicholls, the Herald's state political editor, offers his thoughts on today's events from the orange carpet of Macquarie Street. (Excuse the few seconds of static at the start of this video.)

• 1:33pm

No comment

With leadership challenges in the air, just about every word out of the mouths of potential challengers is viewed as laden with significance, so too the things they do not say.

A spokesman for Planning Minister Rob Stokes has offered a 'no comment' when asked if he would be a candidate for the leadership when the party room convenes next week.

To be fair it's 2.30am where Mr Stokes is, in the United Kingdom. No response yet, too, to the same question from the office of Transport Minister Andrew Constance. 

• 1:28pm

View from the street

Andrew P Street offers a critical view of the Baird legacy. 

While the personal circumstances surrounding Baird's resignation are understandable – and here's genuinely and sincerely hoping that his father and sister's health battles are brief and successful – it's important to keep a clear eye on what Mike Baird's legacy has been for NSW generally and Sydney specifically. Because they have been huge.

• 1:13pm

Always a gentleman

The Brisbane Times' Felicity Caldwell reports:

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Mike Baird was a gentleman.

"He has always treated me with respect, he has always spoke passionately about the issues that we have both championed," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters on Thursday.

"We don't agree on everything all of the time and of course I'm quite sure he's going to miss State of Origin.

"However, he's decided to spend more time with his family and I honestly wish him all the very best for his future."

• 1:04pm

Baird's economic legacy

​NSW is the fastest growing economy in the country with the lowest jobless rate, writes Jessica Irvine. But can Baird take the credit?

• 12:59pm

Keep Sydney Open farewells Baird

Keep Sydney Open, the anti-lockout law pressure group that mobilised thousands of protesters against Premier Baird last year, has wished the Premier well but said he was responsible for diminishing Sydney's "vibrancy". 

"We wish the Premier well. His commitment to the job during health crises in the Baird family is admirable and we wish only the best for them," said Tyson Koh. "We never hoped for Premier Baird's resignation, instead we hoped he would be a constructive partner who'd pursue smart policy that could make Sydney both vibrant and safe."

"Mike Baird never pursued that goal. While the greatest cities in the world continue to respect nightlife and enjoy innovative night time safety strategies, Mike Baird refused to consider these examples and instead believed only in the blunt instrument of a curfew." 

The so-called lockout laws were introduced by Mr Baird's predecessor, Barry O'Farrell. The Baird government relaxed the restrictions late last year. 

• 12:44pm

Gladys to stand

Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed she will be contesting the leadership when the Liberal party convenes next week, Fairfax has confirmed.  

It is unclear if there will be any challengers. 

• 12:42pm

Parting shot

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MLC Robert Borsak has criticised Mr Baird on the way out. 

"Mike Baird's retirement is welcomed by the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party," he said. "While we have generally supported this Government's mandate over the last few years, what we are now witnessing is the culmination of a number of very bad decisions.

"Those decisions relating to the sale of poles and wires which could have been handled differently, forced council amalgamations, the banning of the greyhound racing industry, and now the theft of crown lands in New South Wales is what has ultimately cost Mike Baird his job."

• 12:40pm

A contest for next premier?

So far it's been assumed that Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian will walk into the job as NSW's next Premier when the party room convenes for a spill of leadership positions next week.

But now former Liberal MP Ross Cameron is speculating that the vote could be contested.

When speculation that Mr Baird was planning to quit politics peaked late last year, amid the government's greyhound backdown, Mr Stokes, who is the Planning Minister, and Transport Minister Andrew Constance were named as other possible successors...

Mr Stokes' office has been contacted for comment but, as the tweet notes, he is overseas.