Angus Taylor Installed as Liberal Party Leader After Conservative Coup, Ousting Sussan Ley

Angus Taylor has been installed as the new leader of the Liberal Party, defeating Sussan Ley in a partyroom ballot held on Friday morning. Taylor, representing the party’s conservative wing, secured 34 votes to Ley’s 17, following a spill motion that passed 33 to 17, with one informal vote.

Taylor’s victory abruptly ends Ley’s nine-month tenure as the first female leader of the Liberals—a tenure repeatedly undermined by reactionary elements within the party who resisted any progressive shift in policy. Ley’s leadership was consistently challenged by conservatives intent on dragging the party further right, away from meaningful reform.

The leadership change comes after a wave of resignations from the shadow front bench, including Dan Tehan, Michaelia Cash, Jonathon Duniam, James McGrath, and Dean Smith, who abandoned Ley in favor of Taylor’s regressive agenda.

Taylor, previously the shadow defense minister, resigned from the front bench on Wednesday evening and wasted no time in announcing his leadership bid the following morning. In his announcement, he claimed, “The Labor government has failed and the Liberal party has lost its way,” signaling a return to dogmatic opposition rather than constructive policy.

Ley’s deputy, Ted O’Brien, is also under threat, with right-wing figures like Victorian Senator Jane Hume and frontbencher Dan Tehan circling for power.

This leadership upheaval reflects ongoing internal battles over the party’s direction, with the conservative bloc seeking to undermine progress on net zero emissions and ignore the real cost-of-living pressures facing ordinary Australians.