Follow live: Party room meeting to decide Liberal leadership underway

The motion to spill the Liberal leadership has been successful in a secret ballot.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is willing to test the numbers against Angus Taylor.

Given the spill motion has been successful, it suggests Taylor will likely be the victor.

There were 33 votes for the spill and 17 against. There was one informal vote.

— Anna Henderson

Sussan Ley was all smiles as she arrived for the vote with key backers.

She was flanked by Melissa Price and Anne Ruston, with Tim Wilson, Paul Scarr, Andrew Bragg, Maria Kovacic, Richard Colbeck, Andrew Wallace and Andrew McLachlan following behind.

Sussan Ley arrives with supporters for the leadership vote. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

— Miles Proust

The two candidates have posted on social media overnight to pitch their leadership to the public and their voting Liberal colleagues.

Angus Taylor used an Instagram post on Thursday to make the case for replacing Ley.

"Our country is in trouble. The Labor government has failed and the Liberal Party has lost its way," he said.

"I'm running to be the leader of the Liberal Party because I believe Australia is worth fighting for."

Sussan Ley has not spoken publicly about the impending spill, instead publishing a series of social media posts in which she offered a "better future" and that "we will ease the squeeze".

— Cameron Carr

Phil Thompson, a supporter of Angus Taylor, has denied that there’s a gender issue in dumping Sussan Ley, the party’s first female leader.

"The people that talk to me in Townsville don’t raise a gender issue, they raise incompetency," he told reporters outside parliament.

"They want to see strong leadership. They want to see us take up the fight to Labor."

Meanwhile, he has given Taylor a glowing review.

"I think Angus’ feet are under the desk. He’s been in this place for a while. He understands what it takes to lead. He’s been in senior positions in government. He’s held senior positions in opposition. I think he’ll move quite quickly."

— Cameron Carr

There are those within the Liberal Party who think it's too early to roll the party's first female leader.

Key backers and factional allies include Andrew Bragg, Julian Leeser, Anne Ruston and Maria Kovacic.

Jogging into parliament, shadow cabinet secretary Andrew Wallace reiterated his support for Ley.

"I think she's done a very, very good job in very difficult circumstances," he told reporters on Friday morning.

"It's been a tough nine months, but I simply don't think she's had a reasonable opportunity to succeed."

Immigration spokesperson Paul Scarr, also a moderate, told ABC Breakfast that the party needs "more women standing as candidates".

"We need more people from our multicultural communities standing up for the Liberal Party and for the values of the Liberal Party."

— Ewa Staszewska

Speaking to cameras on the way into parliament, deputy front-runner Senator Jane Hume believes Angus Taylor is "the right person" to rebuild the Liberal Party.

Jane Hume has been critical of the Liberal Party's failures since she was demoted to the backbench. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

"He's a man of great conviction, great experience, and he will be able to articulate those positions and those policies that will inspire Australians to put their vote with the Liberal Party," she said.

Hume has been vocal about the failures of the Liberal Party since she was demoted to the backbench after the election, in part due to her role in developing a policy scrapping working from home for public servants.

She said Australians are "crying for change", and she wants to see the party unite after Friday morning's vote.

"The most important thing that we can do today is to make sure that the Liberal Party after this leadership spill comes together and makes sure we are a united team, that's what Australians want to see," she said.

— Ewa Staszewska

Liberal leader Sussan Ley, the first woman to head the party, has been the captain of a leaky ship.

She has been in the top job for nine months, following a historic loss at the May 2025 federal election.

Sussan Ley was elected Liberal leader after the party's landslide loss at the 2025 election. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Narrowly defeating Angus Taylor for the top job — by a mere four votes — put a target on her back from the onset.

Those not in her camp have been quick to capitalise on missteps, including when she called on former ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd to be sacked after a tense exchange with United States President Donald Trump.

She was forced to backtrack the comments after the meeting was largely praised as a success.

The Farrer MP's October 2025 attempt to link a Joy Division T-shirt with antisemitism — demanding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese apologise for wearing the shirt — also failed in light of more pressing political issues.

While Ley negotiated a second reunion with the Nationals over the weekend, the Coalition has fractured twice under her leadership.

The infighting within the Coalition has repeatedly undermined her stewardship. Nationals leader David Littleproud publicly stated he couldn't serve in a shadow cabinet under Ley, remarks he stepped back from on Sunday.

Dire polling numbers have also plagued Ley, with Newspoll, Redbridge and Morgan polls all ranking the Coalition behind One Nation.

The Coalition's conservative voters have split from the major party, contributing to a record rise for One Nation, which now sits second behind Labor.

Sunday's Newspoll also saw Ley's personal approval drop 11 points to a low of -39, the worst for a major party leader in two decades.

— Ewa Staszewska, Cameron Carr

A few people are gunning for the Liberal deputy role, currently held by moderate Ted O'Brien.

Victorian senator Jane Hume has declared herself a contender and has the public support of Senator Sarah Henderson.

Senator Sarah Henderson (left) has backed Senator Jane Hume (right) as deputy Liberal leader. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

SBS News understands that Hume, O'Brien and Dan Tehan are front-runners.

A few Liberals have ruled themselves out, including Goldstein MP Tim Wilson and NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

— Ewa Staszewska

Long before he was a conservative heavyweight in the Liberal Party, Angus Taylor was lauded as prime minister material.

The 59-year-old grew up in southern NSW to a fourth-generation farmer, going on to study law and economics.

Like former Liberal leaders Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, Taylor earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, focusing on economic philosophy.

The father-of-four later started up several businesses in irrigation and agriculture alongside his family — ventures which would later plague him.

During his time as a consultant for McKinsey & Co, he played a key role as a go-between for New Zealand dairy farmers, leading to the launch of Fonterra, the country's largest dairy exporter.

His grandfather, William Hudson, is regarded as the father of the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme.

Tony Abbott (left) and Angus Taylor (right) were both recipients of the Rhodes Scholarship. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

When he was elected in the NSW seat of Hume in 2013, he was touted as a future prime minister, due to his "Kennedy-like" looks, education, business links, and agricultural background.

Considered a conservative, Taylor became aligned with Abbott and Peter Dutton early in his political career.

He was appointed to the energy and emission reduction portfolio under Scott Morrison, a move that raised eyebrows given his presence at anti-wind farm rallies.

As part of Sussan Ley's shadow cabinet, he was defence spokesperson, having also served as shadow treasurer under Dutton.

Read more about Taylor's life before and during politics from our reporter in Canberra, Ewa Staszewska:

READ MORE

'Smartest policy brain' or controversial deal-maker: Who is the real Angus Taylor?

— Cameron Carr

In recent years, leadership contests among the Liberals have been decidedly one-sided.

Since 2008, there have been five leadership spills in the federal Liberal Party — Friday's challenge will be the sixth — and the result has been positive for the incumbent just once.

Credit: SBS

This is not the first time Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor have competed for the party leadership.

Ley became party leader when she beat Taylor 29-25 in a May 2025 leadership election, following the Coalition's heavy election defeat that month in which leader Peter Dutton lost his seat.

With the retirement of two senators and the removal of Gisele Kapterian from the party room, the circumstances have changed for Ley.

Read more on the history of Liberal leadership spills here:

READ MORE

The results of recent Liberal spills show a clear trend. What does it mean for Angus Taylor?

— Niv Sadrolodabaee, Ewa Staszewska

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of this morning's leadership spill that will determine the leader of the Liberal Party.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley is being challenged by Angus Taylor, who resigned from his frontbench position Wednesday evening, clearing the way for today's party room meeting, where members will vote for their leader at 9am.

Joining Taylor in resigning were a group of fellow conservative frontbenchers — James Paterson, Jonathon Duniam, Phil Thompson, Claire Chandler and Matt O'Sullivan. 

But Ley still has backers, including Opposition housing spokesperson Andrew Bragg and Opposition legal affairs spokesperson Andrew Wallace.

Several party members have also indicated they will nominate for deputy leader.

— Cameron Carr