EDITORIAL: Ley hangs on but Liberals need a path forward

The end of the parliamentary year is a dangerous time to be a political leader languishing in the polls.

In Canberra parlance, it’s known as the “killing season”.

Before dispersing to their respective electorates for the long summer break, restless MPs are known to dispatch their embattled leaders, hoping for a clean slate and a bump in the polls next year.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley is certainly under enormous pressure. Polling out on Monday showed primary support for the Coalition at a record low of 24 per cent, with the Albanese Government extending its two-party preferred lead to 56-44.

And history would show that internal barneys over energy policy rarely end well for Liberal leaders.

Breathless media reports on Monday described Ms Ley’s rivals readying themselves for a move against her by West Australian conservative Andrew Hastie.

Those reports claim Mr Hastie has the numbers to topple Ms Ley, thanks to pragmatic if cynical support from the party’s moderates, who figure if they already have Mr Hastie’s climate policies, they might as well have the electoral benefit of his cut-through to voters as well.

Meanwhile Angus Taylor, whom Ms Ley narrowly beat for control of the partyroom back in May, is busy doing image-softening sit-down interviews for the Sunday papers (with an accompanying photo shoot with his wife Louise) about his appreciation for the oeuvre of Meryl Streep. It all smells of a spill.

Those ostensibly in the know however, say there is no imminent threat to Ms Ley’s leadership.

The knives have been sharpened, but they’ll stay sheathed for now.

As two-time former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said, the race to the next election is a long distance event and there’s no advantage to being in front on the first lap.

Better to conserve energy and sit in the slipstream for the time being.

That said, the Liberals are currently so far behind Labor and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that it’s hard to see they’re in the race at all.

The longer the behind the scenes jockeying and manoeuvring goes on, the more entrenched in voters’ minds the image of the Liberals as self-obsessed dolts unworthy of the privilege of government becomes.

Meanwhile, out in the real world, inflation is making an unwelcome comeback. Hoped-for cuts to the cash rate now seem a distant dream.

House prices are through the roof, stoking dissatisfaction with migration levels. Government spending is out of control, with nothing to show for it.

These issues would be easy pickings for a competent opposition.

But instead holding the Government to account, the Liberal Party is tearing itself apart.

To have any hope of being viewed as a credible alternative government, they need to unite behind a leader fast and start talking about the issues that actually matter to Australians.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.