Libby Mettam says she’s ready to become Opposition leader after key MP’s defection upends the National Party

Pressure was mounting last night on Shane Love to give up his tenuous grasp on the Opposition leadership in favour of Libby Mettam after the bombshell defection of one his MPs to the Liberals. Mr Love’s status as the alternative premier — despite his Liberal alliance partners holding more seats in the Parliament — came from his continued recognition by Labor Speaker Michelle Roberts as the Leader of the Opposition. “In terms of myself as Speaker, I will continue to recognise Shane Love as the leader of the opposition, as he advised the Parliament,” Mrs Roberts said.. “If (the Opposition) form an agreement, they can advise the House. They would stand up in Parliament and they would advise the House accordingly.” The political stoush emerged after new North West Central MP Merome Beard quit the Nationals on Tuesday night to join the Liberal Party. Both Mr Love and Ms Mettam on Wednesday said their focus was holding the Cook Government to account, but they have still not spoken to each other in the aftermath of Ms Beard’s decision. Fronting the media alongside her newest MP, Ms Mettam said she had “reached out” to Mr Love. While she had respect for the Nationals’ leader and accepted he was “currently” the Opposition Leader, Ms Mettam said she was ready to take on the role. “I have every confidence that we will have discussions about the way forward,” Ms Mettam. “There are more Liberals the Nationals in the opposition now, and there will be more Liberals than Nationals after the next election. “I am willing and ready to lead the Opposition.” Ms Beard said she understood the sense of betrayal from her former party, but backed in Ms Mettam’s leadership. “Libby is someone I’ve watched evolve into a strong leader and I believe that she can be a force to be reckoned with going forward,” she said. “I have a lot of faith in Libby as the leader and I believe that she is a strong leader. Libby Mettam will be the Opposition Leader at some point in time.” Insisting negotiations were still under way in a respectful manner to transfer the title to Ms Mettam, Mr Love used Mrs Roberts’ statement to deflect questions over whether he was the most appropriate person to lead the opposition. “The status quo has prevailed. The Speaker has indicated that she recognises the Leader of the National Party as the leader of the Opposition,” Mr Love said. “That will remain the situation until something might change between the agreement of the two parties.” Mr Love, who described Ms Beard’s departure as “disappointing”, said he would continue to work with the Liberals to negotiate an agreement ahead of the 2025 State Election. The defection heaps more pressure on stalled talks between the parties to turn their political alliance into a formal coalition. The Nationals have previously offered to make Ms Mettam the Opposition Leader provided the Liberals agreed to a joint ticket in the Legislative Council that guarantees the country party at least three winnable seats. But at the annual Liberal State Conference at the weekend, the party agreed on how it would pick the order of candidates in the top positions on the Upper House ticket, making no mention of the Nationals. Ms Beard’s decision to leave the Nationals puts the numbers between the Opposition parties at three apiece. It comes after the Electoral Commission’s proposed boundaries for the next election abolished Ms Beard’s electorate, merging it with Mr Love’s seat of Moore. The new Mid West seat would likely see the two face off against one another, something Mr Love said would be “uncomfortable”. The unprecedented stand-off between equally sized opposition parties has created a parliamentary headache for Mrs Roberts, who rejected a notion she was favouring Mr Love as part of a political ploy. “The Opposition make their own choices. And as a Speaker, I simply receive advice from the government and from the Opposition,” she said. “We’ve never had the scenario before in WA, where there’s an equal number of people in opposing parties. So this is a new thing.” Attorney-General John Quigley described the Opposition as “in a dreadful mess” and the choice between Ms Mettam and Mr Love was “two bad choices”. “They’re fighting among themselves now as to who will be the Opposition leader. We’re not here as a government to sort out the mess that the Opposition have got themselves into. The public will sort that out in March 2025,” Mr Quigley said. Police Minister Paul Papalia said the equal representation for both parties in the Lower House was “an interesting conundrum that confronts the opposition”. “Look, we’re talking about six people. This is like a dysfunctional share house where everyone’s arguing over who gets the master bedroom. Meanwhile, the dishes are piling up in the sink, you’re behind in the rent, and you’re probably going to get evicted,” Mr Papalia said. Speaking in Japan, Premier Roger Cook said: “This is just another example of the mess the coalition are in and you’re going to see more conflict coming in as the Nationals and the Liberals duke it out for seats in the next election.”