Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor is facing pressure to topple leader Sussan Ley amid a fragile Coalition reunion, as senators warn the party could face an electoral wipeout.
The Liberal and National parties reunited on Sunday after a bitter, almost three-week split sparked by a disagreement over hate speech laws. The parties were stronger together and were focused on holding the Labor government to account, Ley said.
A Newspoll survey published in The Australian newspaper on Monday indicated the Coalition's primary vote has plummeted to a new low of 17 per cent, down from 21 per cent in mid-January.
The poll, in which One Nation has surged to 27 per cent — within six points of Labor — has prompted an outpouring of frustration from Liberal figures.
Senator Jess Collins, an ally of frontrunner Taylor, said "something has to happen" following the poll, highlighting that the party is going "from bad to worse".
"We are in such a bad way, and for us to go back to our electorate, we have to go with something new, and whatever that may be, something has to change," she told reporters on Monday morning.
Former Opposition treasury spokesperson Taylor emerged as a potential challenger after fellow leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie bowed out of the race in late January.
With both men vying for the backing of the Liberals' conservative wing, Hastie's withdrawal cleared the runway for Taylor by averting a split in the right-faction vote.
Liberal senator Jane Hume said on Monday the poll results pointed to an "existential crisis" for the party.
She warned that if the poll results were replicated at an election, the Liberals would be left without a single seat in Victoria or NSW.
"I don't know who's left. At this point, we're talking about a leadership contest between Sussan Ley and Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. None of them will have seats after the next election if this continues, so something's got to give," she said.
Hume stopped short of "casting aspirations" about leadership, but argued for "something very different", stating the party is "now at irrelevance".
In order to mount a challenge, Taylor would need to step down from the front bench and then trigger a spill motion.
However, with the last Liberal party room meeting until March scheduled on Tuesday, it may require a special meeting.
Opposition legal affairs spokesperson Andrew Wallace insists that Ley has the backing of the party room, stating she needs a chance, having served less than 12 months since the Liberal Party's historic defeat under Peter Dutton in the May 2025 federal election.
"Sussan deserves the opportunity to succeed. She is a strong voice for Liberal Party values, and she needs a team that will coalesce behind her," he said.
Ley says job is safe, flags new policies
Ley insisted on Monday that she does not expect a leadership spill.
Asked on Sky News whether her job is safe, Ley replied: "Yes, it is."
The Liberal leader urged colleagues to keep internal discussions to "inside the party room".
"In public, we must present a credible alternative to the Australian people," she told Sky News.
Ley also flagged the party would soon announce its immigration principles.
Expected by the end of February, they are likely to spell out an intention to lower Australia's migration intake below current levels in a bid to stem the flow of voters to One Nation.
But that could prove too late to save her leadership.
Taylor failed to put rumours of a spill to bed on Friday, telling Sydney radio station 2GB he had leadership ambitions.
Pressed on whether Ley would still be leader in a week, he said a coup was not in the works but conceded he had been having conversations with his colleagues about the party's future.
— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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