Anthony Albanese mobbed by screaming young fans similar to Paul Keating and and Bill Shorten

Anthony Albanese received a rockstar welcome when he visited his former school on the campaign trail, but the rousing reception may not be such a positive sign if history is any guide for Labor leaders.

Paul Keating was famously swamped by schoolgirls in the lead-up to the 1996 election in a welcome that would rival the Beatles, and Bill Shorten was also met by adoring students in 2019.

It did neither of them any good as Mr Keating was routed by John Howard and Mr Shorten lost the ‘unlosable’ election to Scott Morrison.

They both lost their respective elections despite the appearance of popularity and significant leads in the polls going into their campaigns.

Anthony Albanese visited his former high school, St Mary’s Cathedral College, on Monday as part of his campaign tour 

The opposition leader was swarmed by cheering young fans who demanded selfies and hi-fives 

The Labor opposition leader now finds himself in a similar position with the latest Newspoll showing Labor ahead 54-46 on two-party preferred, up one point from the previous week.  

Ipsos polling two under two weeks out from the May 21 race has Labor gunning for 35 per cent of the primary vote, while the coalition has dropped to 29 per cent.

While there has been a few slips – including his failure to recite the cash rate and national unemployment figures on the first day of the campaign, as well as last week’s almost identical blunder where he was unable to name his own six-point plan for the National Disability Insurance Scheme – Mr Albanese remains the hot favourite.

The opposition leader was swarmed by hordes of young fans St Mary’s Cathedral College, in Sydney’s CBD, as he campaigned on Monday, announcing a $150 million plan to boost the education sector.

Dozens of teenagers called him over for selfies and high-fives, with Mr Albanese happily obliging, grabbing hold of their phones to take photos with the crowd.

He told the youngsters he met one of his lifelong best friends at the school and his highest HSC marks were in chemistry and math.

The iconic photo shows Prime Minister Paul Keating getting mobbed by schoolgirls in 1996 at the Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta

Fans not old enough to vote also cheered on Bill Shorten when he campaigned at St Joseph’s Catholic College in East Gosford on the Central Coast in 2019

During the door stop, a brief press conference with frontbencher Tanya Plibersek was interrupted by bells – leading Mr Albanese to quip: ‘The bells are tolling for the Morrison government because early voting starts today.

‘Time is up.’

The scenes will remind many voters of Paul Keating getting mobbed by schoolgirls in 1996, where students at the Our Lady of Mercy College in Parramatta chanted ‘Paul, Paul, Paul’.

The former PM even joked afterward that he would have stayed longer but he feared the girls might have ripped off his shirt.

Fans not old enough to vote also cheered on Bill Shorten when he rocked up at St Joseph’s Catholic College in East Gosford on the Central Coast just four days before polling day. 

Young woman screamed and reached out their hands to touch the Opposition Leader as he walked past.

‘No one ever famous comes to our school so it’s exciting. It’s cool a politician of Australia is here. It’s just cool,’ one young student named Gabrielle said at the time. 

He was odds-on favorite to beat Scott Morrison in a landslide but in the end, Mr Shorten was famously trounced in what later came to be dubbed ‘the unlosable election’.

Mr Keating was also romped by Liberal prime minister John Howard, who led Australia for 11 years, winning three more elections during a dark period for Labor.

Mr Howard was finally knocked off in 2007 by Kevin Rudd, who is the only Labor leader in recent memory to buck the trend of adoring school-aged fans not translating into electoral success.

He toured Eumemmerring College in Melbourne where students couldn’t get enough of the popular leader. Days later he was swept to power in a landslide.