Angus Taylor set to challenge Sussan Ley for Liberal leadership on Friday

Angus Taylor is set to quit the shadow ministry on Wednesday evening after declaring he no longer has faith in Sussan Ley’s leadership of the Liberal party and will challenge for her job.

His highly anticipated move clears the way for a formal spill of the leadership, anticipated to come at a special party room meeting on Friday.

Just hours earlier the Shadow Defence Minister had joined Ms Ley for the Liberals’ regular leadership team meeting inside Parliament House.

Speculation about Ms Ley’s future has reached feverish heights this week, compounded by a Newspoll showing the Coalition’s primary vote at a record-low 18 per cent.

Preparations for a leadership challenge have been complicated this week with numerous party room members tied up with Senate estimates hearings, as well as the visit to Canberra by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.

Late on Wednesday afternoon Ms Ley, along with frontbench colleagues Jonno Duniam, Micahelia Cash, Tim Willson, Andrew Wallace, Julian Leeser and Andrew Bragg attended a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

“This is blood sport, we can’t delay it any longer, even if President Herzog is here. He can still meet with Sussan today because she’ll still be leader,” one conservative frontbench Liberal MP told The Nightly on Wednesday.

Another key supporter of Mr Taylor said he expected Ms Ley would be offered a frontbench spot when her leadership is over.

Mr Taylor’s resignation is expected to be followed by a swathe of other frontbenchers from the party’s right faction, freeing them up to start canvassing their colleagues.

A special party room meeting can be called upon the request of two MPs who want to move and second a motion to spill the leader’s position.

However, the timing of the meeting will remain in Ms Ley’s hands.

Throughout the day members of the two opposing leadership camps have been insisting their candidate has majority support in the party room, but both sides agree the looming ballot will be close.

Ms Ley’s backers claim the Shadow Defence Minister has struggled to convince enough moderate MPs to support a change, with one critic saying his decision to not return early from a summer holiday to Europe had hurt his chances.

Another said the numbers were incredibly close.

Backers of Mr Taylor maintain the right faction challenger has momentum and could defeat the Liberal leader in a party room ballot by “up to eight votes”.

Details of Mr Taylor’s looming leadership challenge are being tightly held because his supporters say there have been too many leaks to the media, but inside the party there is intense speculation on who could join his frontbench.

Numerous Liberal MPs who spoke to The Nightly said they expected Victorian Zoe McKenzie to become Mr Taylor’s deputy if he’s successful in a leadership vote.

During Question Time on Wednesday Labor repeatedly taunted the Liberal leadership aspirant over his record.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers gave the opposition a taste of Labor’s attacks to come if Mr Taylor does become Liberal leader.

He claimed in Question Time that some Liberals were baulking at the leadership change because “he’s failed badly and he’s failed upwards” in every portfolio and had destroyed their economic credibility as shadow treasurer.

“At every stage of his life he wants everything handed to him on a silver platter… The member for Hume was born with a silver foot in his mouth,” he said.

“Just when we thought that they couldn’t go any lower on their economic credibility, the member for Hume says, ‘Hold my chardonnay’.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles followed up by declaring his shadow counterpart “has no ideas”.

Ahead of this week’s Parliamentary sitting, momentum for a Liberal leadership challenge gathered pace after a fresh Newspoll on Sunday recorded the party’s support plunging to 18 percent, with One Nation’s popularity skyrocketing to 27 percent.