EDITORIAL: Liberals must make a decisive, clear decision on leader
Whether or not Mr Taylor is the solution is a matter for the Liberal party room to judge. But what must be avoided is another round of leadership instability after Friday.
By this time on Friday the Federal Liberal Party will have met to thrash out its leadership.
Angus Taylor had set the wheels in motion for a showdown after he resigned from Sussan Ley’s frontbench on Wednesday.
On Thursday he declared he intended to run for the leadership.
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“I believe we need strong and decisive leadership that gives Australians clarity, courage and confidence in providing a vision for the future.
“We’re running out of time,” he said.
Other Liberals joined in and also abandoned Ms Ley. Among them were powerbrokers Jonno Duniam, the shadow minister for home affairs and manager of Opposition business in the Senate, and James Paterson, shadow minister for finance and a member of the leadership group, as well as shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash.
A motion to spill the Liberal leadership was delivered to Ms Ley, and the Liberal party room meeting to decide the spill motion and then the leadership question will be held at 9am in Canberra on Friday.
It is true that at nine months, Ms Ley has not had much time in the job to make her case. But the modern world, and especially politics, moves fast. Ms Ley has just not cut through.
This is despite the problems confronting Labor, including its inability over more than two years to combat the rise of anti-Semitism, the cost of living battle faced by everyday Australians, the housing crisis, sluggish economic productivity and rising interest rates.
Ms Ley, although coming off a low base after the Liberals’ disaster at the last election, failed to seize the moment.
Of course she was not helped by the Coalition chaos — blame for which must be shared by both the Liberal and National parties.
Nevertheless there was concrete illustration of the Liberals’ rapid decline in successive Newspolls as One Nation drew away much of the old conservative vote. A Newspoll last month had One Nation support at 22 per cent and the Coalition at 21 per cent.
Polling during the temporary split of the Coalition showed primary support for the Liberals at 15 per cent and the Nationals at three per cent. One Nation was up five points to 27 per cent. Ms Ley’s numbers had her as the most unpopular major party leader since 2003.
For many Liberals, the numbers were alarming enough to push the emergency button.
Ms Ley, for all her talents, hard work and dogged persistence, was not able to win over her own side of politics, let alone middle Australia.
Whether or not Mr Taylor is the solution is a matter for the Liberal party room to judge. But what must be avoided is another round of leadership instability after Friday.
What the party needs to do is make a decisive, clear decision, stick to it and get on with being an effective Opposition.
