The Liberal Party has found itself back at the drawing board after a defeat of epic proportions on Saturday.
With its leader booted out of parliament, the party finds itself in a position of irrelevance to a generation of voters. As former Liberal minister Simon Birmingham shared on LinkedIn after the loss, “the broad church model” of the party is “clearly broken”.
“The Liberal Party is not seen as remotely liberal and the brand of conservatism projected is clearly perceived as too harsh and out of touch,” Birmingham said in his reflection.
“The Liberal Party has failed to learn lessons from the past and if it fails to do so in the face of this result then its future viability to govern will be questioned.”
The stunned party is in a place where it needs to soul-search and rebuild to become a viable opposition. One of the first steps is to elect a new party leader to guide the path forward.
Whoever wins will be tasked with leading the party after its worst result in history, something that will be no easy feat. So who is in the running? We take a look below.
Sussan Ley
The only woman being mentioned as a contender for the Liberal Party leadership is Sussan Ley. In the wake of Peter Dutton being booted out of parliament, Ley is currently the acting Liberal leader. She described the election as a “difficult night” for the party.
Amid the wipeout of Liberal Party MPs in the House of Representatives, Ley is now considered the party’s most senior MP. She has been Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party since 2022, working alongside the now ousted Peter Dutton.
“As per our party rules following an election defeat, the Liberal party room will meet in order to elect a Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Opposition. These positions will be declared vacant at this meeting,” Ley said in a statement.
“I have consulted with our party’s senior leadership and it is clear that there are several seats where preferential counting must continue before this meeting can take place.”
Angus Taylor
Angus Taylor, who has worked as the Shadow Treasurer of the Coalition, is also a front runner for the leadership. Many commentators, including from within the Liberal Party, have criticised Taylor’s approach to the economic portfolio, saying he did not provide any credible economic policies for the party to take to the election.
This morning, prominent Liberal figure Senator Hollie Hughes, spoke to ABC radio, saying Taylor’s lack of economy was partly to blame for the party’s significant loss.
“I have concerns about [Taylor’s] capability. I feel that we have zero economic policy to sell,” Hollie Hughes said on Radio National on Monday. “I don’t know what he’s been doing for three years. There was no tax policy, no economic narrative.”
“I have concerns about his capabilities, but that is shared by a huge number of my colleagues, and frustration that they didn’t have economic narratives that they could push and sell during the election.”
Dan Tehan
Throughout the election campaign, Coalition immigration spokesperson Dan Tehan found himself in the political fight of his life in his seat of Wannon in regional Victoria.
He was up against independent challenger Alex Dyson, who was running for the third time in the seat. Ultimately, Tehan was re-elected and now finds himself as one of the names in contention for the party’s leadership.
Tehan has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2010 election.
Andrew Hastie
Andrew Hastie is another name that is mentioned as a potential leader. On Saturday, he retained his seat of Canning in Western Australia with a small swing towards him. He has not revealed if he has intentions to put his hand up and it has been reported that it is unlikely he will.
He has been shown support by the likes of Michaelia Cash, who said he was a “future leader” of the party.
During the campaign, Hastie was criticised for being largely absent and was also put in the spotlight over his previous comments about women in combat roles in the defence force.
No matter what, whoever takes the reins now—be it Ley, Taylor, Tehan or Hastie—will inherit a party in existential crisis. Rebuilding won’t be about slogans or scapegoats, it will require soul-searching, honest reform, and a new generation of leadership that reflects the country as it is, not as it was.
Who’s up to the task? Well, that’s the big question.