Federal election 2025: Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor go to war for leadership of the stricken Liberals

After almost a week of increasingly bitter campaigning in the shadows, acting Liberal leader Sussan Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor publicly declared their candidacies for the leadership on Friday, formalising a contest between two of the central figures of the Coalition’s disastrous election loss.

Both emphasised the importance of winning back the support of women, one of the groups the party struggled to attract under former leader Peter Dutton.

“Policy isn’t enough,” Mr Taylor said Friday afternoon. “We also need to rebuild the party itself. We must bring in new talent that reflects modern Australia – especially more women.”

Ms Ley promised to make the Coalition a more collegiate workplace — an implicit criticism of Mr Dutton’s centralised management style — while arguing her elevation would show Australians the party respects women.

“We did let the women of Australia down,” she said on the Seven Network’s Sunrise program. “I think my appointment would send a strong signal to the women of Australia, but it’s about much more than that.”

Opinion polls show that Mr Dutton was more unpopular with women than men. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had similar levels of support among men and women in April, according to a YouGov poll.

Liberal Party officials say the problem is deeper than the leader’s sex, and its failure to attract more professional women is one of the reasons it lost inner-city seats to “teal” independents.

“Who doesn’t say we need more women?” said Charlotte Mortlock, a Liberal Party member from Sydney who campaigns for greater female representation. “I would like to know both their stances on quotas because that’s what we need, not lip service.”

Another potential candidate, Dan Tehan, withdrew himself from contention Friday morning, leaving the contest between the party’s left and right factions, neither of which has a majority.

Party sources said the candidates were fighting over fewer than ten undecided Liberal MPs, including Melbourne MP Tim Wilson, West Australian senator Dean Smith and Mr Tehan.

Blame Game

Latest counting has the Coalition on 41 seats and the Labor Party on 91, a victory greater than even the most optimistic prediction.

Who should share in responsibility for the loss is an important part of the choice of a new leader, Liberal MPs said. As the Coalition’s Treasury spokesman, Mr Taylor is being criticised by internal opponents for failing to convince voters their lives would have been better under the Coalition.

A supporter of Ms Ley’s said this week she had been “frozen out” of decision making by Mr Dutton, and should not be blamed for the campaign’s mistakes.

Detractors argue she should take responsibility, as deputy leader, for one of the worst defeats in the party’s history.

Ms Ley was a member of the group, known as the shadow expenditure revenue committee, which approved every major policy, according to a source familiar with the operation of Mr Dutton’s office.

She was present in the budget lockup on March 25 when Mr Dutton and Mr Taylor agreed to reverse the government’s income tax cut, a decision Treasurer Jim Chalmers used to attack the opposition throughout the campaign.

As a member of the Coalition’s leadership team, Ms Ley participated in daily phone meetings which decided on campaign tactics, the source said, including the decision to reverse a policy requiring public servants to return to their offices full time.

Deputy

Stating the party was at a “crossroads”, Mr Taylor listed his priorities in a statement on his website: economic management, personal responsibility, national security, aspiration and the private sector.

“This moment demands experience,” he wrote. “It also demands energy, humility, and a clear plan for the future.”

Ms Ley, a 24-year-political veteran and former health and environment minister, said she was known for her work ethic. “We can be successful,” she said. “We can win the next election.”

Both Liberal leadership candidates are from country New South Wales. About 55 Liberal MPs are scheduled to vote on Tuesday.

No one has publicly declared themselves a candidate for deputy, although Senator Jactina Nampijinpa Price’s decision to switch from the Nationals to the Liberal Party on Thursday triggered speculation she plans to stand as Mr Taylor’s deputy. On Friday, she chose not to answer questions about her leadership ambitions.

Other possible contenders are Ted O’Brien, Sarah Henderson and Melissa McIntosh.