Ley schedules Liberal leadership ballot after Taylor declares challenge — as it happened

Sarah Henderson, a Liberal senator and Angus Taylor ally, says she hopes Sussan Ley's leadership will end in days.

"We need a credible set of policies, we need to show that we can fight for the Australian people, hold this terrible government to account every single day, and that's why I am hoping that Angus Taylor will be our leader in the next couple of days," she told ABC News Breakfast.

She also added that she will support Victorian senator Jane Hume for the deputy leader position.

"I do think that we need to promote a senior woman, so that is who I am backing, that Jane gets up," she said.

— Niv Sadrolodabaee

Good morning, welcome to our live coverage of Canberra today after Angus Taylor quit the Liberal front bench last night.

Taylor stepped down from his role as Opposition defence spokesperson in anticipation of a challenge to Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley.

On Thursday morning, Claire Chandler became the first of Taylor's colleagues to follow him, announcing she had resigned from her frontbench positions as Opposition spokesperson for science and Opposition spokesperson for cybersecurity.

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Angus Taylor steps down ahead of expected Liberal leadership spill

In a video she shared on social media, Chandler said she made the decision because she had been contacted by constituents who felt the Liberal Party had "let them down" and were not effectively holding the government "accountable".

"They just see an opposition that is obsessed with talking about itself," she added.

Chandler said she believed the Liberal Party was capable of "so much better" but she had come to the view that that wouldn't happen under Ley's leadership.

We'll be bringing you more as this story develops today.

— Alex Gallagher