2025 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
Australian political party election
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A leadership election was held on 13 May 2025 to elect the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and by virtue, the leader of the Opposition. The election took place after Peter Dutton lost his seat of Dickson at the 2025 federal election.[2] The ballot was won by then-deputy leader Sussan Ley, who became the first female leader of the Liberal Party.[3]
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13 May 2025
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54 caucus members of the Liberal Party 28 caucus votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||
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Leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||
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Deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||
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Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor stated in advance that they would contest the leadership.[4][5] Country Liberal Northern Territory senator Jacinta Price previously announced her intention to contest the deputy leadership as Taylor's deputy after changing her federal affiliation from the National Party, but did not run after Taylor lost the leadership ballot to Ley.[6][7]
Background
2022 leadership election
The last Liberal Party leadership election was held on 30 May 2022, a week after then-leader and prime minister Scott Morrison led the party to defeat at the 2022 federal election against the Australian Labor Party led by Anthony Albanese after three terms in government, and subsequently resigned as Prime Minister and Liberal leader.[8][9] Incumbent deputy leader and treasurer Josh Frydenberg lost his seat of Kooyong to teal independent candidate Monique Ryan,[10] making him ineligible to contest the deputy leadership election. The leadership election was won unopposed by Peter Dutton, the outgoing leader of the house, while the deputy leadership election was won by Sussan Ley, the outgoing Minister for the Environment, also unopposed.[11]
2025 federal election
Initial predictions for the 2025 federal election had Dutton poised to lead the Liberal–National Coalition to victory after one term in opposition,[12] with the Coalition having taken the lead over Labor in November 2024.[13] From March 2025, Dutton's lead in the polls began to reverse,[14] largely attributed to the unpopularity of the second Trump administration in the United States;[15] the Coalition's campaign rhetoric somewhat mirrored Trump's campaign in 2024, in particular calling for asylum seekers to be detained offshore, cuts to the public sector workforce, and antagonism towards China.[16]
In the 2025 federal election, Dutton led the Coalition to a second consecutive defeat, with Labor increasing their majority,[17] with the Coalition recording their lowest seat share since 1946, the first election contested by the Liberal Party since their rebranding from the United Australia Party the year prior.[18]
Candidates
Leader
Declared
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Announced | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sussan Ley[19] | Farrer (NSW) | Moderate/Centre-Right[1] | 9 May 2025[20] |
| |
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Angus Taylor[21] | Hume (NSW) | National Right[22] | 8 May 2025[23] |
| |
Declined
- Andrew Hastie – Canning (WA); Shadow Minister for Defence (2022–2025)[25]
- Dan Tehan – Wannon (Vic); Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (2022–present)[26]
- Tim Wilson – Goldstein (Vic); Assistant Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction (2021–2022)[27]
Deputy leader
Declared
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Ted O'Brien[28] | Fairfax (Qld) | Unaligned[1] |
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Phillip Thompson | Herbert (Qld) | National Right[1] | ||
Withdrew
| Candidate | Electorate | Withdrew | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Jacinta Price[7] | Senator for the Northern Territory | 13 May 2025 | National Right[1] |
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Speculated
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Sarah Henderson[29] | Senator for Victoria | National Right[1] | ||
.jpg) |
Melissa McIntosh[29] | Lindsay (NSW) | Centre Right[1] |
| |
.jpg) |
Dan Tehan | Wannon (Vic) | Centrist[1] |
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Declined
- Jane Hume – Senator for Victoria; Shadow Minister for Finance (2022–2025)[29]
Endorsements
On 12 May 2025 (one day before the leadership vote), a document that had circulated within the Liberal Party was published by The Nightly, featuring the reported voting intentions of federal Liberal members.[30] The document showed Ley with the support of 21 members and Taylor with the support of 28 (including Linda Reynolds, who publicly endorsed Ley), while three members were uncommitted.[30] The actual vote saw Ley defeat Taylor 29 votes to 25.[30]
Sussan Ley
Federal Liberal members
- Hollie Hughes – outgoing Senator for New South Wales[31]
- Linda Reynolds – outgoing Senator for Western Australia[32]
Former federal Liberal members
- Warren Entsch – MP for Leichhardt (1996–2007; 2010–2025)[28]
Former heads of government
- Nick Greiner – Premier of New South Wales (1988–1992)[33]
- Barry O'Farrell – Premier of New South Wales (2011–2014)[33]
- Gladys Berejiklian – Premier of New South Wales (2017–2021)[34]
- Jeff Kennett – Premier of Victoria (1992–1999)[33]
- Shane Stone – Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (1995–1999) and former Liberal Party president[33]
Other politicians
- Shirlee Burge – councillor for Edward River[35]
- Doug Curran – Mayor of Griffith (independent)[35]
Angus Taylor
Federal Liberal members
Former heads of government
Tim Wilson
Former federal Liberal members
- Jason Falinski – MP for Mackellar (2016–2022) and former New South Wales Liberal Party president[39]
Results
| [40][41][31][42][43] | Sussan Ley (29) | Angus Taylor (25) | Unknown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| House of Representatives | NSW | Sussan Ley, Alex Hawke, Gisele Kapterian, Julian Leeser, Melissa McIntosh | Angus Taylor, Simon Kennedy | |
| VIC | Mary Aldred, Dan Tehan, Tim Wilson, Zoe McKenzie, Jason Wood | Aaron Violi | ||
| QLD | Angie Bell, Scott Buchholz, Ted O'Brien,Leon Rebello, Andrew Wallace | Garth Hamilton, Henry Pike, Phillip Thompson, Terry Young | Cameron Caldwell | |
| WA | Melissa Price | Andrew Hastie, Ben Small, Rick Wilson | ||
| SA | Tom Venning | Tony Pasin | ||
| Senate | NSW | Andrew Bragg, Hollie Hughes, Maria Kovacic, Dave Sharma | — | |
| VIC | — | Sarah Henderson, James Paterson | Jane Hume | |
| QLD | — | — | James McGrath,Paul Scarr | |
| WA | Linda Reynolds, Dean Smith | Slade Brockman, Michaelia Cash, Matt O'Sullivan | ||
| SA | Andrew McLachlan, Anne Ruston | Alex Antic, Leah Blyth | David Fawcett, Kerrynne Liddle | |
| TAS | Richard Colbeck | Wendy Askew, Claire Chandler, Jonathon Duniam | ||
| NT | — | Jacinta Price | ||
Gisele Kapterian was thought to have won the seat of Bradfield (New South Wales) but was declared not elected after a recount. Senators David Fawcett, Hollie Hughes and Linda Reynolds remained members of the Liberal party room until their Senate terms expired on 30 June.