Former federal senator Hollie Hughes has quit the Liberal Party, saying it has strayed from its values and accusing some former colleagues of being "lazy" and "inept".
Speaking on Sydney's 2GB on Tuesday, Hughes — who left parliament just six months ago — backed Sussan Ley's leadership but said the party was mired by internal division.
"It is absolutely a rabble," she said.
"I have all the support in the world for Sussan Ley, I think she is doing an outstanding job.
"But there are some people who are completely inept, who are lazy, who are not across the details."
Hughes said the direction some members wanted to take the party no longer reflected the values of founder and former prime minister Robert Menzies.
"I don't think they reflect what a lot of Australians feel anymore," she said.
She added Ley had done a "great job" as leader, including on net zero, by allowing members a chance to voice their views at a party room meeting.
But she questioned how the federal division could be at odds with the NSW branch, which has backed a net zero by 2050 target.
"I don't know how it works," she said.
Hughes said she wanted to speak freely and would stay in the party and "snipe from the sidelines" like some former parliamentarians had done.
"I've always put [the party] first," she said.
"But when I look at the undermining that is going on, and I see some of the people doing it, I want to be able to give you absolute home truths about it without the hypocrisy of being a paid-up member of the Liberal Party."
Hughes served as a NSW senator from 2019 to 2025 and was shadow assistant minister under former Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
She left parliament after being placed in an unwinnable senate position following a preselection loss.
Since leaving office, Hughes has purchased a pub at Rydal in the NSW central tablelands.
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