Languishing Libs warned leader swap won’t stop the rot
The Liberals are expected to have a new leader in the coming days, but a leak will do little to address their serious electoral woes, an expert warns.
The party is heading towards a leadership fight after weeks of speculation; Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is likely to be sacked as historically low opinion polls encourage Conservative challenger Angus Taylor.
But according to Redbridge Group director and former Victorian Labor Party strategist Kos Samaras, a leadership change will do little to win votes or address the party’s deeper problems.
“Leadership is not the antidote to their problems,” he told AAP.
“That would be good policy, and it’s a long road ahead of them and it’s not an easy solution.”
The Australian’s latest News poll, conducted during the latest split between the Liberals and the National Party, put the coalition’s first preference vote at just 18 per cent, eclipsing One Nation’s 27 per cent.
Mr. Samaras was skeptical that the coalition could develop solid policies and compete with One Nation ahead of the 2028 elections.
“Not only are they reducing support for One Nation in regional Australia, they are also historically losing ground to Labor and independents,” he said.
“Outside Queensland, they only have five urban seats out of an electorate of 14.5 million. So they have a lot of problems.”
Redbridge’s latest poll revealed a similar result to Newspoll, which Mr Samaras said could not be ignored.
“We have seen many times in the past where certain political movements or independents gain support at the polls and then (before elections) that support wanes,” he said.
“But these numbers have never been this significant beyond what we define as a simple protest.”
A leak is expected to happen when the Liberals hold their regular party room meeting on Tuesday morning, but it is more likely to happen later in the week due to forecast hearings in the Senate, sources told AAP.
Backbenchers Jane Hume and Sarah Henderson are among those who publicly questioned Ms Ley’s leadership on Monday.
“I don’t know what the solution is and I don’t know who the solution is, but I do know that more of the same is not good enough,” Senator Hume told reporters in Canberra.
“We have to do something different and we have to do it quickly because we are running out of time.”
Ms Ley remained defiant on Monday, insisting she would remain a leader and was “ready for the job”.
Mr Taylor failed to assuage leak rumors on Friday, telling 2GB Sydney radio he had leadership ambitions.
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