He beat Peter Dutton for the job, 45 votes to 40.
Josh Frydenberg will be Morrison’s deputy.
Morrison was the former immigration minister before taking on the treasury portfolio.
He was behind the ‘Operation Sovereign Border’ policy and largely took credit for ‘stopping the boats’.
He voted no in the marriage equality plebiscite.
More recently as Treasurer, he presided over the corporate tax plans — which were unable to be legislated and were scrapped by Malcolm Turnbull earlier this week.
Turnbull received the 43 signatures he requested on the petition calling for the party room meeting, late in the morning. He resigned in the party room.
The first vote in the party room was a spill motion, which was carried 45 to 40 — meaning Turnbull may arguably have been only a handful of votes away from keeping his job.
Members were then asked to vote on the next leader of the Liberal party, between Julie Bishop, Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton.
Bishop was the first to be eliminated from the race, with a second vote called to determine between Morrison and Dutton.