Angus Taylor has resigned from the shadow cabinet and is expected to challenge Susan Ley for the Liberal leadership, declaring the party is in the “worst place” since it was formed in 1944.
Taylor announced her resignation from the shadow cabinet on Wednesday evening, the first step in an attempt to remove the party’s first female leader after just nine months.
“I don’t believe it Susan Lay It is in a position to lead the party because it needs to be led,” he said at an evening press conference.
“What we need now is strong leadership, clear direction and a bold focus on our values, and the first two priorities … are protecting our way of life and restoring our living standards.”
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Lay’s office said it would not comment on his resignation on Wednesday.
Other senior allies are expected to follow in leaving the frontbench, putting pressure on Le to call a party room meeting on Thursday or Friday to settle the leadership.
According to party conventions, two or more Liberals MPs can request a special party room meeting to consider a motion to spill the leadership.
If a majority of MPs support the spill motion, a secret ballot will decide the leader.
The 59-year-old’s announcement was widely anticipated After days of speculation The Shadow Defense Minister will use the horror Newspoll and the infighting from the latest coalition split as triggers to challenge Ley.
The moderate-aligned Le defeated the conservative Taylor by 25 to 29 votes to win the leadership after the 2025 election.
While both camps believe their candidate has majority support in the 51-member party room, both admit the numbers are tight.
Speaking after Taylor’s resignation, right-wing Liberal MP Tim Wilson told the ABC’s 7.30 that he would “support the leader” and that Taylor had not sought his vote on Wednesday.
Ley’s leadership was considered terminal for the second time under her watch after the coalition split. Senior Liberals Taylor and fellow right-winger Andrew Hastie are believed to have her fate sealed as soon as they decide which of them will compete.
haste He withdrew from the race on January 30 After secret talks with right-wing power brokers in Melbourne, the Hume MP was given a clear run.
lay A reunification agreement was negotiated Coalition on Sunday But some MPs believe concessions to the Nationals have damaged her credibility and shifted key voters to Taylor, despite her lobbying for a re-election.
Taylor refused to confirm his intentions and continued to attend shadow cabinet and meetings of Lay’s Liberal leadership team, including on Wednesday morning.
According to sources, Taylor did not mention his immediate challenge during Wednesday’s meeting.
Conservatives and moderates were frustrated Wednesday as Taylor delayed the announcement.
“I think this speculation is useless because it robs the government of oxygen to consider,” Taylor’s right-winger Ben Small told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
Leader of the OppositionLee’s allies have pushed for Taylor’s supporters to put their names on a petition for a spill, mirroring the strategy used by Malcolm Turnbull to thwart a 2018 coup by Peter Dutton.
In 2018, Turnbull demanded of Dutton Supporters presented him with the names of a majority in the party room to justify holding a second leadership spill in a matter of days.
“We’re not paid to play games, wink wink. We’re paid to work hard for the Australian people. If people want to do something, they should put their name to it,” said Liberal senator and right-wing powerbroker Andrew Bragg.
MPs also discussed appointing Senator Jane Hume and Goldstein MP Tim Wilson to replace Deputy Leader Ted O’Brien among the names mentioned internally.
Hume warned this week that the party could be “wiped out” without an urgent change of direction after a Newspoll published on Monday showed the Coalition’s primary vote had fallen to 18%, nine percentage points behind One Nation.
The Victorian senator is a moderate but backed Taylor in the last leadership ballot, angering her cross-party allies and helping to oust her from the shadow cabinet.
