Liberal leadership spill: Angus Taylor elected Federal Liberal leader after toppling Sussan Ley

The Liberals have elected Angus Taylor to lead them, dumping the party’s first female leader Sussan Ley after just nine months.

Mr Taylor won the leadership vote 34-17.

He now faces the challenge of rebuilding the Opposition’s standing from its worst-ever election result and the continued tanking in the polls.

Mr Taylor quit as shadow defence minister late on Wednesday night, saying he didn’t believe Ms Ley was “in a position to be able to lead the party as it needs to be led”.

He declared Thursday morning that he wanted to lead.

“I’m running to be the leader of the Liberal Party because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for,” he said in a slick social media video filmed at a rural location.

On Friday, Jane Hume was elected deputy leader after three rounds of voting sparked by four candidates putting their hands up.

Melissa Price was eliminated first, with only two votes, and Dan Tehan went out in the second round.

Incumbent Ted O’Brien lost out in the last round.

Earlier in the morning, upon entering the building, Senator Hume said she had the experience to offer what was needed for the Liberals as deputy leader.

She also said that the “amount of effort the Labor Party has gone to, to tear down Angus Taylor down” in recent days, showed they feared him as leader.

Labor rolled out attack ads online within minutes of the result of the party room vote being announced.

Ms Ley’s moderate supporters offered her a final public show of support walking into the party room meeting.

Melissa Price, Andrew Bragg, Anne Ruston, Tim Wilson, Maria Kovacic, Andrew Wallace, Andrew McLachlan, Richard Colbeck, and Paul Scarr accompanied her in the short walk from the Opposition Leader’s suite to the party room.

It made a big contrast to the last major party room meeting, held about dumping net zero, when the conservatives walked in in force and Ms Ley arrived alone.

More to come.