Labor's next prime minister isn't even in Parliament yet if history is any guide. That means Kaila Murnain, the first woman to be Labor's general secretary in New South Wales, could be the one to lead the ALP out of the electoral wilderness. At just 32, she is almost seven years young than New Zealand's Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Like the world's youngest female leader, Ms Murnain grew up in regional areas that are normally conservative voting and has been a party activist since she was a teenager. Scroll down for video If history is any guide, Labor's next prime minister isn't even in Parliament yet. That means Kaila Murnain (pictured with husband Tom Hollywood), the first woman to be Labor's general secretary in New South Wales, could be the one to lead the ALP out of the electoral wilderness When Labor lost the 1949, 1975 and 1996 elections, Australia's next Labor PM wasn't even in the House of Representatives, with Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd yet to win a lower house seat. Former Labor Party bosses in NSW have gone on to become senators and Right faction powerbrokers, with Graham Richardson and Mark Arbib serving as federal ministers, while Sam Dastyari was an Opposition frontbencher. On the conservative side of politics, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was the Liberal Party's NSW director from 2000 to 2004, in his thirties, before he was elected in 2007 as the member for Cook in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. Veteran Labor strategist Bruce Hawker, who has worked for premiers and a prime minister, said Ms Murnain's role as Labor's first female general secretary in NSW, since 2016, spoke volumes about her ability. 'She's a very strong person and that's important as a leader,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday. At just 32, she is six years young than New Zealand's Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured with fiance Clarke Gayford). Like the world's youngest female leader, Ms Murnain grew up in regional areas that are normally conservative voting and has been a party activist since she was a teenager 'She runs a tight show which is also important and is very hands on - she doesn't sit back and allow everybody else to do the thinking for her, she's in there with her sleeves rolled up driving the agenda. They're all very positive things.' Like Ms Ardern, who grew up in the North Island towns of Morrinsville and Murrupara, Ms Murnain was also raised in the country, spending part of her childhood in the NSW central-west cotton-growing town of Narrabri. Both women moved to a big city to further their political ambitions. Like two former Labor PMs - Mr Whitlam and Paul Keating - Ms Murnain hails from Labor's powerful Right faction and is based in Sydney. She is also a political insider, which significantly increases her chances of winning preselection for a winnable seat. Mr Rudd, the last Labor leader to become prime minister from Opposition, worked as a chief-of-staff to Queensland premier Wayne Goss before being elected to federal Parliament in 1998, as the member for Griffith on Brisbane's south side. While party bosses and political insiders aren't necessarily household names with voters, they have gone on to win elections, as Mr Morrison also showed on Saturday night. Veteran Labor strategist Bruce Hawker, who has worked for premiers and a prime minister, said Ms Murnain's role as Labor's first female general secretary in NSW spoke volumes about her ability (she is pictured with outgoing Labor leader Bill Shorten) Anthony Albanese, the man favoured to replace Bill Shorten as Labor leader, was himself the party's assistant general secretary in NSW from the minority Left faction In Queensland and NSW, Peter Beattie and Barry O'Farrell achieved landslide election victories, one as a Labor leader and the other as a Liberal premier. Mr Hawker said being a party general secretary would be good training for Ms Murnain, a Right faction national convener, to enter federal Parliament as she presides over NSW Labor's ballot to choose a new state leader. 'As a party secretary, she's very involved in the nuts and bolts issues,' he said. The party's current assistant secretary in NSW, Rose Jackson, is the daughter of the late Four Corners presenter Liz Jackson and also hails from the Left 'I don't think either Peter Beattie or Scott Morrison were going around being larger-than-life, big-picture people when they were respective party secretaries. 'They were doing the things that are required of the party secretary to win elections.' Labor's new federal leader Anthony Albanese was himself the party's assistant general secretary in NSW from the minority Left faction before being elected as the member for Grayndler in Sydney's inner-west in 1996. Asked about her prospect of being a future Labor prime minister, Ms Murnain threw her support behind Mr Albanese. 'Albo will be a strong and unifying force as leader of the party, and we are all excited and ready to take the fight to the Liberals and Nationals under his leadership,' she told Daily Mail Australia. The party's current assistant secretary in NSW, Rose Jackson, is the daughter of the late Four Corners presenter Liz Jackson and also hails from the Left. She too could be a future federal Labor leadership contender, were she to enter Parliament. Her husband Sam Crosby, from Labor's Right faction, unsuccessfully contested the Sydney inner-west seat of Reid at Saturday's election. Mr Morrison, as state Liberal director, presided over an election loss in NSW in 2003 but was instrumental in helping former prime minister John Howard's re-election in 2004. Mr Beattie himself presided over two state election losses as Labor's Queensland general secretary but that didn't stop him later winning four elections as premier during his nine years leading the Sunshine State. Ms Murnain presided over NSW Labor's March election loss while only one of her party's federal candidates in NSW won a seat from the Liberal Party at Saturday's election. Political setbacks haven't deterred previous occupants of The Lodge. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility