opposed the privatisation. The party secretary, Karl Bitar, and his deputy, Luke Foley, were less ideologically committed on the issue, but their polling showed that the public was against a sale and – more importantly – tiring of Iemma and his team. They too came down against Iemma's plan. What followed was an extraordinary, year-long struggle by the party's head office and affiliated trade unions to force cabinet and caucus to abandon an already-announced policy. Robertson, Bitar and Foley had the union-dominated party conference pass a motion reminding MPs of the party's notional commitment to democratic socialism. Next, union and party officials began threatening Labor MPs with disendorsement if they voted with the Premier on privatisation. Remembering the promise Rudd had made to him in 2007, Iemma called on the Prime Minister to have the federal party intervene to protect MPs who sided with the Government. Rudd declined. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former premiers Carr, Barrie Unsworth and Neville Wran, and former Labor Council secretaries Michael Easson and John McBean came out publicly in support of Iemma. On 3 May 2008, the NSW Labor's State Conference rejected, by 702 to 107 votes, the Iemma government's plans to privatise the state's electricity system. Two members of the party's Socialist Left faction, upper house MPs Lynda Voltz and Ian West, succumbed to the pressure and announced that they would vote against the party on privatisation. Had the vote gone ahead, it would have been the first instance of a Labor MP 'crossing the floor' in 14 years of government. The Liberal Opposition, led by moderate Barry O'Farrell, saw an opportunity to wound Iemma by denying him the opportunity to build the metro. Together, West, Voltz, the Greens and the Opposition had the numbers to defeat the Government in the upper house in August 2008. On 3 September 2008, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister John Watkins announced he was going to retire for family reasons, triggering a cabinet reshuffle. On 4 September 2008, Costa was advised by Iemma that he would no longer be in the forthcoming reshuffle and hence dumped as Treasurer. Iemma had also proposed that other ministers would be dumped, including Health Minister Reba Meagher. Iemma's faction, Centre Unity, supported the sacking of the Treasurer but not the other four Ministers. The following day, right-wing Labor powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi told Iemma that he had lost the