Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he was ousted by the Liberal Party because his colleagues were worried he would win the next federal election.
"You could argue that their concern was not that I would lose the election, but rather that I would win it," he told the BBC's Politics Live host Andrew Neil, claiming the Liberal Party's chances of winning were "less favourable" now.
"As I said at the time it was essentially a form of madness that occurred, whipped up internally and also amplified by voices in the media."
BBC
A clearly surprised Neil suggested the claim was "not credible".
"You're telling me your own party didn't want you to win the next election?"
Mr Turnbull replied: "You just have to look at the facts".
The host pointed to the fact that under Mr Turnbull, the party had lost 40 consecutive polls but the former Prime Minister insisted that they had "drawn even" with Labor.
Mr Turnbull was stripped of the prime ministership in August last year, in a leadership spill that he lost 45 votes to 40. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was the first to challenge for the top job, followed by former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and current Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Read more
The former leader had pledged to quit parliament if the spill motion was successful, which he did, triggering the fierce Wentworth byelection which saw the Liberals lose the seat to Independent Kerryn Phelps.
When asked whether he thought Mr Morrison is less popular than he was, Mr Turnbull said "that's a fact".
"The party on any of the objective indications, polling, is in a worse position that it was in August. You can't deny it," he said.
On Thursday Mr Turnbull visited the United Kingdom House of Commons as part of a tour of Europe. Following the visit, he said the decorum of the UK Question Time was "inspiring but unfamiliar".
Share
