Sussan Ley: Farrer by-election could be harmful to Liberals if former leader quits

Sussan Ley’s colleagues believed, before the leadership spill, that she would quit Parliament if she lost the leadership, an assessment backed by veteran Liberal strategist Tony Barry.

On Friday, Angus Taylor was elected Liberal leader in a secret party room ballot, ousting the first female Federal Liberal leader from her role.

If Ms Ley does decide to call it stumps, she will be leaving with one of the best pensions possible.

She’s entitled to a generous parliamentary pension, having been elected in 2001, three years before John Howard curtailed the scheme, and the view is she would see little point in hanging around.

Mr Barry warned her departure would set conditions ripe for an independent or minor party to take Farrer in a by-election, like independent Kerryn Phelps won the blue-ribbon seat of Wentworth from the Liberals after Malcolm Turnbull quit parliament.

“These sort of by-elections where it’s consequence-free — in other words, it’s not going to change government — are always incredibly volatile and unpredictable,” he said.

The Climate 200-backed independent who won nearly 20 per cent of the primary vote last May is keeping her options open for a fresh tilt at Farrer.

Michelle Milthorpe has kept her campaign social media accounts running, highlighting local issues and repeating the message that the community “deserves better”.

“My reason for running in the first place was because I didn’t feel that we had relatable representation and consistent representation, and that hasn’t changed,” she told this column, adding that she was “certainly” considering running again.

“We’re looking for an alternative government . . . the opposition is meant to be providing an alternative and doing those things and they can’t when their focus is on internal politics.”