Liberal leadership spill: Angus Taylor elected Federal Liberal leader after toppling Sussan Ley

Angus Taylor has outlined plans to focus on living standards, a migration crackdown and lower taxes as he braces for a bruising by-election after rolling the Liberal Party’s first female leader.

Sussan Ley lost the Liberal leadership 34-17 in a swift vote by her colleagues on Friday after weeks of speculation about her future. She lasted exactly nine months in the job.

The Liberals also dumped deputy leader Ted O’Brien in favour of Senator Jane Hume.

They now face the challenge of rebuilding the Opposition’s standing from its worst-ever election result and the continued tanking in the polls showing more than 2 million supporters abandoned the party.

The size of this task will become clear in an early by-election test after Ms Ley announced she would quit parliament within weeks.

Mr Taylor acknowledged many Liberal supporters were angry.

“If an election was held today, our party may not exist by the end of it,” he said.

“We’re in this position because we didn’t stay true to our core values because we stopped listening to Australians, because we were attracted to the politics of convenience, rather than focusing on the politics of conviction. This ends today.

“The choice is simple for the Liberal Party, change or die. And I choose change.”

He pledged to oppose “every bad tax, every reckless spending initiative” while putting together a plan for lower income taxes, boosting home ownership and creating choice in childcare.

The new leadership team also conceded they’d made mistakes ahead of the last election – pre-empting Labor’s attacks on their record – including rejecting income tax cuts, scrapping working from home, and accusing Labor of having “Chinese spies” working its polling booths.

Senator Hume said the party had a proud history and she wanted to ensure it also had a bright future.

“We’re going to take the Liberal Party forward, not left, not right,” she said.

“The Liberal Party is a party of hope and it is a party of aspiration, but most importantly, is a party for all Australians.

“Standards of living are collapsing, hard work is going unrewarded, and we have a government that doesn’t listen. It’s a message that I am hearing right across the country.”

Mr Taylor persuaded nine MPs who didn’t vote for him last May to switch allegiance.

His 34 votes in the leadership ballot was described as a “decisive victory” and a “stretch goal” by supporters who knew ahead of time they had secured at least 30.

“It’s the reset we needed,” one said, noting that donors were already returning to the party.

The leadership will now set about forming a new shadow ministry, with Taylor backers expected to be rewarded with inclusion or promotion.

Mr Taylor spoke with Nationals leader David Littleproud, who publicly endorsed him as having “the skills, smarts and conviction to lead the Liberal Party and the Coalition to win the next election”.

Ms Ley was gracious in her departure – insisting she genuinely had no hard feelings towards those who hadn’t backed her – and wished Mr Taylor well.

“I know he has experience, energy and drive. I know the whole team will have what it takes to fight this awful Labor government. I will be cheering them on,” she told reporters, remaining composed while some of her staff were in tears.

“It is important that the new leader gets clear air, something that is not always afforded to leaders, but which in the present moment is more important than ever.”

Taylor supporters described her statement as “all class”.

Ms Ley also announced, as many colleagues had anticipated, that she would retire from politics within weeks.

“When I came to the leadership of the Liberal Party nine months ago, my mother had just died. One of the things she said was, when something ends in sadness, don’t dwell on the disappointment. Be grateful that you had it at all,” she said.

“So today, I want to express gratitude to the Liberal Party that I have belonged to and loved for more than half of my adult life, to the party room that elected me as their leader nine months ago, and to the Parliament of Australia that has been the most extraordinary workplace for 25 years.”

The resulting by-election in Farrer is tipped to be a “dog’s breakfast” with victory open to the Liberals, Nationals, One Nation or an independent.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was swift to announce her party would field a candidate.

Independent Michelle Milthorpe, who garnered nearly 20 per cent of the vote last May with Climate 200’s backing, also confirmed she would contest the seat.

“The last election proved this seat is no longer ‘safe’... The people of Farrer have already signalled they want genuine representation. This by-election is our opportunity to finish what we started,” she said.

Climate 200 believes the seat that’s always been held by the Coalition is winnable.

State independent MP Helen Dalton, who holds the overlapping seat, also said she was considering running.

Mr Taylor conceded the by-election would be tough.

The latest polls have put the Coalition’s vote at 18 per cent, well behind One Nation on 27 per cent.

Despite this, the new leader said he had no intention to become “One Nation-lite”. During his press conference on Friday he spoke about plans for a tough new immigration policy that rejected “people who hate our way of life” and put Australians first.

Senator Hanson scoffed: “No one will ever be as strong as One Nation on immigration.”

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull warned against falling into the trap of trying to imitate One Nation, urging a shift back to the centre instead.

He also offered a blunt assessment of Mr Taylor’s capabilities, saying: “The curious thing a lot of people say about Angus Taylor is he is the best-qualified idiot they’ve ever met.”

Labor rolled out attack ads online within minutes of the result of the party room vote being announced.

They label Mr Taylor “a Morrison-Dutton leftover” and accuse him of working from day one to undermine his party’s first female leader.

“So who is new Liberal leader Angus Taylor? He’s just another Liberal.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said his one-time shadow’s elevation only served to undermine the Coalition’s economic credibility.

“Angus Taylor was the most shambolic Shadow Treasurer in Australia’s history and now he’s leader of the Liberals… Angus has zero credibility on the economy and neither does the bin fire that is the Coalition,” he said.

Ahead of the party room meeting, Ms Ley’s moderate supporters offered her a final public show of support.

Melissa Price, Andrew Bragg, Anne Ruston, Tim Wilson, Maria Kovacic, Andrew Wallace, Andrew McLachlan, Richard Colbeck, and Paul Scarr accompanied her in the short walk from the Opposition Leader’s suite to the party room.

It made a big contrast to the last major party room meeting, held about dumping net zero, when the conservatives walked in in force and Ms Ley arrived alone.

“I am sad that we’ve lost our first female leader so quickly and in this fashion, but that’s politics,” one of her strongest backers told this masthead as they emerged from the party room meeting.