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- Follow our live coverage of the Liberal Party leadership spill here.
Angus Taylor has won the Liberal leadership in a party room vote against Sussan Ley, who announced shortly after the vote that she would resign from parliament after 25 years as an MP.
He won the leadership ballot by 34 votes to 17.
Ley’s resignation will mean a byelection in her seat of Farrer in coming months, a contest that could be a five-cornered contest between the Liberals, Nationals, Labor, One Nation and an independent.
Ley served as Liberal leader for nine months after being elected in the immediate aftermath of the Coalition’s disastrous election result in May.
Jane Hume was elected as the party’s new deputy leader, seeing off a challenge from incumbent Ted O’Brien, 30 votes to 20, with one abstention. Dan Tehan and Melissa Price also put their names forward for that position.
The margin was bigger than anyone in the party would have thought a few days ago.
Taylor, the 17th person to lead the federal Liberal Party, paid tribute to Ley in a press conference on Friday afternoon before outlining a vision for his leadership – leaning heavily into immigration. Taylor’s supporters have signalled a more conservative agenda in contrast to Ley’s stated appeal to shift to the centre.
“The choice is simple for the Liberal Party, change or die,” he said, standing in front of six Australian flags.
“In this country, our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life, people who don’t want to embrace Australia, and who want Australia to change for them. We’ve had the worst terrorist attack on our soil in our history, perpetrated by Islamist extremists.
“And as Australians, we are less free. It shouldn’t be this way. Labor has undermined our standard of living and has failed to protect our way of life. And I say to Australians, the first priority of the Liberal Party now, under my leadership, will be to restore our standard of living and protect our way of life.”
Taylor also said a Liberal Party under his leadership would focus on home ownership and taxation.
“We’ll re-establish home ownership as the centrepiece of the Australian dream. As Liberals, we stand for lower inflation, lower interest rates and lower taxes. The Liberal Party must always be the party of lower taxes,” he said.
Earlier, Ley announced that she would resign from parliament about an hour after the leadership vote, setting up a byelection for the seat of Farrer in the coming months. Her nine months as opposition leader was the second-shortest stint in Australian history, excluding those who became prime minister.
“I leave it for others to judge this period of my leadership now … while I’m sure plenty of people will have plenty to say, I’ve never sought to influence what other people think of me,” she said.
“There is no doubt that it has been a challenging time to lead the party after we suffered the worst defeat in 81 years.
“It is important that the new leader gets clear air, something that is not always afforded to leaders, but which in the present moment is more important than ever.”
Ley thanked colleagues who had voted for her and said she wished Taylor well, saying she had “no hard feelings” towards him.
Former Liberal leaders offered differing views of Taylor’s accession. Tony Abbott said that Taylor was “the best person for the job”, while Malcolm Turnbull said that he would not be the solution for the Coalition’s significant slide in the polls.
Meanwhile, One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce declared on Friday that his party would run a candidate in Farrer, the sprawling NSW electorate that covers 123,563 square kilometres.
In 2025, One Nation candidate Emma Hicks attracted 6.6 per cent of the primary vote. Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe, who received funding from teal-backing group Climate 200, came second to Ley last year, with 20 per cent of the primary vote and 43.8 per cent of the preference count.
“One Nation, we will be standing in Farrer … we look forward to giving people in Farrer the opportunity to see the clarity, the unity, the strength and a decisive change, because that’s what they’re asking for the nation,” Joyce said.
“We know that area. We know regional New South Wales. And we look forward to having a candidate who’s also very au fait with the issues.”
The Labor government went on the attack in the minutes after the Liberal Party vote was made public, releasing advertisements critical of Taylor and describing the new opposition leader as “just another Liberal”.
More to come.
Read more on the Liberal Party leadership spill:
Paul Sakkal is chief political correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and has won Walkley and Quill awards. Reach him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14Connect via X or email.
Natassia Chrysanthos is Federal Political Correspondent. She has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
