Andrew Hastie rules out Liberal leadership challenge, paving way for Angus Taylor

Andrew Hastie has confirmed he will not contest the Liberal party leadership, announcing on Friday that he does not have the support needed and clearing the path for fellow rightwinger Angus Taylor to challenge Sussan Ley. Hastie said in a statement he had consulted colleagues and respected their feedback, and that “it is clear that I do not have the support needed to become leader of the Liberal party.” He added: “On this basis, I wish to make it clear I will not be contesting the leadership of the Liberal party.” The two men met face-to-face in Melbourne on Thursday but could not reach agreement on who would challenge Ley in the fallout from the second Coalition split in eight months.

A source close to Taylor said it was a “question of when, not if” the shadow defence minister will launch a formal bid, while multiple sources said Taylor would not push for a leadership spill when federal parliament returns on Tuesday. Hastie’s announcement followed moves by Ley earlier on Friday to give the Nationals an eight-day window to reunite the Coalition before she pushed ahead with a Liberal-only frontbench.

Ley assigned the old Nationals portfolios to existing Liberal shadow ministers in an acting capacity for the upcoming sitting week, beginning Tuesday. Ley said if the Coalition was not reformed by 9 February she would promote six MPs to shadow cabinet and two to the outer shadow ministry.

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