A week of intense scrutiny on the Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s leadership has come to a head. The Liberal Party has confirmed a motion for a leadership spill will be voted upon when MPs meet in Canberra on Tuesday.
Western Australian MP Luke Simpkins will move a motion for a leadership ballot and the motion will be seconded by MP Don Randall.
Simpkins wrote an email to the Prime Minister earlier today informing him of his intention to call a spill. He then emailed the government whip Phillip Ruddock officially requesting a spill via secret ballot.
“I think that we must bring this to a head, and test the support of the leadership in the party room,” Simpkins said in an email to party colleagues.
“As I have said in the past, I have no front bench ambitions. I just want to make sure that the economic vandals do not get back into power and our children and grandchildren are not left to pay Labor’s bill. I do this because I believe it is in the best interests of the people of our country.”
“I look forward to your support on this matter. It gives you the opportunity to either endorse the prime minister or seek a new direction”.
The chief whip then sent an email confirming to colleagues that the spill motion will be going ahead.
The motion reads: “That the Liberal Party Room resolve, via secret ballot, that the senior positions of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party be declared vacant.”
Ruddock also confirmed that the motion has passed the first roadblock before arriving at Tuesday’s meeting: Tony Abbott has agreed to it.
If the current leader feels the numbers are too small, he can veto the motion. He has not done so.
The spill motion will be the first order of business when the party meets on Tuesday.
If the motion wins enough votes to pass, the party room will vote on a leader.
Simpkins implied in his email that he knows he has the numbers to win the vote on the spill motion, so it looks likely the leadership ballot will go ahead.
While this announcement provides at least one answer to the many questions being asked this week, it also poses a series of new ones: Who will be Abbott’s challengers? And what happens if no one throws his or her hat in the ring?
Given that favourites Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull have previously stated they will not contest the leadership, is it possible that Abbott will retain his prime ministership unopposed?
But if Bishop and Turnbull do both challenge Abbott for the top job, who will win? Who should win?
And most important of all: If a spill does go ahead, will the Liberal Party ever recover?