Julia Gillard confirms she split up with former 'First Bloke' and hairdresser Tim Mathieson after 15 years together as her job in London strained their relationship
- The couple first met in 2004 when Mr Mathieson was her hairdresser
- Ms Gillard is known for her privacy and steers shy of public commentary
- She is chair of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership in London
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed she split up with her longtime boyfriend Tim Mathieson a year ago.
Ms Gillard was Australia's first, and still only, female prime minister, and though they were not married, Mr Mathieson became known as the 'First Bloke' - a play on the American tradition of calling a president's wife the 'First Lady'.
Mr Mathieson had not been seen with Ms Gillard in quite some time, and had not even lived in the same city for more than a year.
Then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (right) and her partner Tim Mathieson (left) walk along Altona pier the morning after Australia's general election in Melbourne on August 22, 2010
Then Prime Minister Julia Gillard (right) and Tim Mathieson (left) attend the round ten AFL match between the Geelong Cats and the Gold Coast Suns at Simonds Stadium on June 1, 2013
The former PM is known for her privacy and mostly steered clear of public commentary since Kevin Rudd deposed her as Labor leader and prime minister on June 27, 2013.
Ms Gillard did the same to Mr Rudd three years earlier and went on to form a minority government in her own right after the 2010 federal election.
Ms Gillard, who grew up in Adelaide, confirmed to her hometown Sunday Mail that she and Mr Mathieson separated more than a year ago after 15 years together.
Ms Gillard this month caught Covid in London, which she said was 'debilitating', but she is 'on the road to recovery'.
She is the chair of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College in London and splits her time between there and Adelaide.
Just three weeks ago it emerged her former home in Melbourne was up for sale, still with the distinctive red bollards outside to prevent a vehicle attack.
This distance between them as she worked in London strained her relationship with the former hairdresser, who now lives in country Victoria.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured left) has announced she has split up with Tim Mathieson (pictured right)
They met in 2004 at the Melbourne salon where Mr Mathieson worked, and Ms Gillard later wrote about their courtship in My Story, her 2014 autobiography.
'Every four or five weeks on a Sunday morning, I used to go in and work my way through the newspapers as my hair was done,' she wrote.
'Tim and I got talking about politics: initially he thought I was a state member of parliament. We had later run into each other on a tram and had a chat.'
They didn't become an item until 2006, when they met for lunch during the 'politically quiet time of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games'.
They lived together at the The Lodge in Canberra when Ms Gillard became prime minister in 2010.
Mr Mathieson became Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, a role previously held by Thérèse Rein, wife of Kevin Rudd, and John Howard's wife Janette.
A Melbourne home once owned by former Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, features a series of red bollards installed by the Federal Police to prevent vehicle attacks
Their relationship became the subject of an ABC comedy series that parodied their home life, but the program was widely seen as insulting and poorly received and little watched.
Ms Gillard was last in Adelaide over Christmas where she had belated celebrations for her 60th birthday.
Last weekend she tweeted her congratulations to new South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas and the Labor Party on their emphatic victory at the state election.
'Pleased South Australians have endorsed the progressive policies needed to create a stronger and fairer future for our great state,' she said.
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