On Tuesday 13 May, the Liberals narrowly elected Sussan Ley as Opposition Leader and first ever female leader of the Liberal Party. She won 29 votes to 25 over Angus Taylor.
Taylor was treasury spokesperson in the previous shadow cabinet. Raised on a sheep station in merino country in the Snowy Mountains, and an alumnus of Kings School, St Andrew’s College (University of Sydney) and McKinsey, Taylor became leader of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party with the defeat of Peter Dutton.
Ley was a member of the Moderates, also called small-L liberals. The Moderates were the faction of Malcolm Turnbull and have been decimated by the rise of socially-conscious Independents.
Now, the continued deterioration of metropolitan support for the Liberal Party may be Taylor’s gain.
The AEC has just concluded the count for the seat of Bradfield on Sydney’s North Shore. Once the Liberals’ safest seat in the country, won by 71% to 29% in 2016, Bradfield has been won by Independent Nicolette Boele by just 41 votes, a remarkable 50.02%–49.98% result.
As the seat had once been so safe, the defeated member for Bradfield is believed to have voted for Ley in the Liberals’ leadership spill. That vote will now have to be withdrawn.
Another tight race went the other way. In Longman, north of Brisbane, LNP candidate Terry Young ultimately defeated the ALP candidate by just 271 votes (50.11%–49.89%). Young is part of the National Rights faction.
If Ley’s vote from Bradfield is subtracted and Taylor’s from Longman is added, the party room’s backing of Ley becomes a much closer call.
With senators’ terms expiring on 30 June, their loyalties will also be up for negotiation.
With there likely to be little concern about harming the party’s public image any further after the massive election defeat, ongoing leadership disputes are likely. The split between Liberals and Nationals can only further the sense that all options are on the table in the struggle for leadership of the opposition.
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