Julie Bishop dazzles in $3750 Balmain mini dress following split from David Panton

Julie Bishop was all smiles on Wednesday night when she stepped out for her first public appearance following her dramatic split with David Panton.

The former foreign minister, 66, put on a brave face as she posed for photographers at the David Jones Spring/Summer Fashion Launch in Sydney.

Miss Bishop turned heads in a $3750 Balmain metallic jacquard long sleeve mini dress, which she teamed with black heels and matching stockings.

She accessorised her look with a chic black designer bag and a pair of eye-catching hoop earrings.

The glamourous former politician wore her blonde bob side-swept, and her makeup palette consisted of a smokey eye and lashings of mascara. 

Ms Bishop’s ex allegedly dumped her over dinner in Sydney in July, putting an end to their eight-year relationship.

During their partnership, Ms Bishop took Mr Panton to the United Nations to meet world leaders, Buckingham Palace to hobnob with British royalty and to the White House where he met Donald and Melania Trump. 

The pair first stepped out publicly in 2014, and were pictured at countless celebrity events over the years including the 2018 wedding of Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough. 

They had appeared to be going strong when they recently visited St James’ Palace in London for an event honouring Prince Charles’ charity. 

Ms Bishop was understood to have been ‘blindsided’ by the sudden breakdown of her relationship, sources close to the former politician said.

Daily Mail Australia understands she had been finding more ways to be in Sydney with Mr Panton. 

Ms Bishop emerged for the first time since the split smiling happily for photos at a Perth mining conference on July 11, although insiders said she was hurting in the wake of the bust-up and was shocked at the way he’d pulled the pin so suddenly. 

Another source close to Ms Bishop was slightly less diplomatic about the sudden end to the affair, hinting that Mr Panton’s presence in her inner circle ‘divided’ some of her friends and colleagues.

But ‘JBish’, as she was referred to in Canberra, remained smitten. 

‘Let’s just say a there are a few who might be relieved that it’s over,’ said one, adding: ‘His personality didn’t always gel with everyone.’

Mr Panton met Ms Bishop while she was in the midst of her political career, serving as Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The pair maintained a long-distance relationship for years, with Ms Bishop based in Perth while he lived in Sydney.