Australian news and politics live: Liberal leadership spill - Angus Taylor tipped to win against Sussan Ley

Senion Liberal Jame Hume says she is voting for Angus Taylor in the leadership ballot this morning, also revealing she is putting her hand up to be deputy.

“Sussan Ley is a good person. She has worked incredibly hard,” she told Sunrise.

Ms Hume said that her electorate, and people in other electorates, were telling the Liberal Party they needed “something more”. She would not predict the winner of the ballot but dropped a major clue.

“I do feel that Angus has very strong support in the party room from his colleagues.”

Senator Hume said the “amount of effort the Labor party has gone to, to tear down Angus Taylor down” in recent days, shows they fear him as leader.

Senator Hume said that the Liberal Party had eclipsed its past low lows and needed change today.

Speaking of her record, Senator Hume said she had the experience to offer what was needed for the Liberals as deputy leader.

As of Friday morning, reports suggest that Opposition Sussan Ley could secure 21 votes for the Liberal leadership, while Angus Taylor is tipped to secure at least 29 votes.

If the reports are correct, it tips the scales in Mr Taylor’s favour just nine months after he lost to Ms Ley following Peter Dutton’s resignation from the leadership follow the horror Liberal result in the 2025 Federal election.

The Liberal party room was pushed to Friday morning, despite Mr Taylor’s camp hoping for a Thursday night ballot.

It appears that the extra hours have proven unfruitful for Ms Ley, with Mr Taylor looking more and more likely to secure 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.

In a slick social media video filmed at a rural location, Mr Taylor said he was running for the top job “because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for”.

“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.

Read the full editorial here.

The Liberals’ day of reckoning is upon us, with Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley going head-to-head for leadership of the Party, as a frontrunner emerges.

The party has battled horror poll results over the last Federal election, where Petter Dutton secured one of the worst results for the Liberals ever.

Now, after the polls dropped below 20 per cent for Ms Ley, the trigger has finally been pulled, and a spill has been called.

Friday, 9am is D-day for the Liberal Party as it attempts to fight out of a “change or die” moment, and regain relevance, legitimacy and support.

Mr Taylor is now tipped to have more support than Ms Ley, prepping the Liberals to draw a line in the sand and turn a new page if the conservative’s win eventuates.