Angus Taylor has quit the Liberal frontbench, indicating a leadership challenge against leader Sussan Ley is imminent.
With press gallery journalists parked outside his office for five hours, Taylor finally emerged just after 7pm and walked the hallway to Ley's office.
He was inside for mere minutes before declaring to journalists he had tendered his resignation as he no longer had faith in the party leader.
“I don’t believe Sussan Ley is in a position to lead the party as it needs to be led from here,” Taylor said to reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
He said he had attempted to be a "constructive member" of Ley's team but thinks the party needs "strong leadership" if it's to rebuild following its historic May election loss.
"That means we need strong leadership, clear direction, and a relentless and courageous focus on our values as a first priority," he said.
Taylor is expected to challenge Ley for the leadership role, following weeks of speculation about the party's future. It remains unclear whether more resignations from the frontbench will follow.
The Opposition leader's critics have been advocating for change, following a series of dire poll results.
Ley, who has been in the top job for less than 12 months, has spent most of her tenure surrounded by rumours of a spill, but they reached fever pitch after a second break-up with the Nationals in late January. The parties reunited at the weekend.
Last May, Ley beat Taylor narrowly — 29 to 25 — when the party room voted on who would replace Peter Dutton as Liberal Party leader following the Coalition's heavy federal election defeat.
However the retirement of two senators and the removal of Gisele Kapterian from the party room after she lost a recount in Bradfield means, in reality, the numbers are even tighter.
Taylor has long been the frontrunner due to his factional position in the party's right, a prospect strengthened when Andrew Hastie ruled himself out.
The persistent rumours prompted Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg, a key Ley ally, to bait Taylor's supporters to prove they have the numbers with a list or "move on".
"If people want to do these things, they should put their names to it," Bragg told ABC News earlier on Wednesday.
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