Australian news and politics live: Liberal leadership spill - Angus Taylor tipped to win against Sussan Ley

Sussan Ley supporter Andrew Wallace says his support remains with the Opposition leader and has insisted she hasn’t been given a chance to succeed.

“My support remains with Susan Ley. She’s done a very, very good job in very difficult circumstances. It’s been a tough nine months but I simply don’t think she’s had a reasonable opportunity to succeed,” he told reporters while heading into Parliament after a run.

“Look at the end of the day, I’m keen to get over today, over and done with, because what the Australian people are looking for from its opposition is unity.

“Australians are very, very angry at this government. We’ve had the sharpest fall in living standards in the OECD, people are paying through their nose for all the essentials.”

Liberals MPs have filed into the party room prepared for the spill motion and, if that’s successful, the leadership vote.

Angus Taylor slipped into the room alone – it’s handily across the corridor from his office – at 8.58am.

Sussan Ley walked in, flanked by a group of eight moderates right on the dot of 9am.

It was a show of support for their leader, even though they know it might be a last stand and made a big contrast to the last major party room meeting, held about dumping net zero, when the conservatives walked in force and Ms Ley arrived alone.

Liberals have started arriving for a party room meeting after Sussan Ley was told to vacate the leadership.

The meeting gets underway at 9am. Inside the room, a secret ballot will take place where Liberals will vote on the leadership and deputy leadership.

Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley are both running for the leadership.

Jane Hume, Dan Tehan and Ted O’Brien are expected to run for deputy.

We may not know who wins the ballot for an hour after the meeting comes out, unless the result leaks, which is absolutely possible.

Queensland MP Phil Thompson, a key supporter of Angus Taylor, says he would be a “fantastic Prime Minister”.

“The way I look at it is I believe that Angus Taylor will be a good opposition leader and a fantastic Prime Minister,” he told reporters outside Parliament House.

Mr Thompson listed off attributes he believes would make Mr Taylor a great leader, many of which Ms Ley shares.

“He’s been in this place for a while. He’s been in senior positions in government. He’s held senior positions in opposition.

“He’s been someone that has not just been around here a long time, but he comes from the background, through his time in McKinsey, through his time as a farmer.

“He’s been out to lead the debate around the Liberal party’s position on net zero which… we’ve landed in a position where we don’t support it, which is a good position.

“He’s a good person, and so is Susan, but we need strong leadership.”

Liberal Tim Wilson has “no interest” in running for deputy leader, making the declaration during a morning run around Canberra on spill day.

“Morning Australia! Having read a lot of speculation, I have advised colleagues that I have no interest in the Deputy Leadership,” Mr Wilson posted on X.

“I love Australia, and I want a nation built on respect, where hard work pays off and Australians have more control over their lives.”

Jane Hume has announced she will support Angus Taylor in the ballot and run for deputy. She is expected to run against Dan Tehan and current deputy leader Ted O’Brien in the Liberal party room at 9am on Friday.

Queensland MP Phil Thompson has rejected that the Liberal Party has a woman problem ahead of an anticipated leadership challenge to Sussan Ley by Angus Taylor.

“I just reject that kind of premise,” the Herbert MP said.

“This isn’t about that at all. It has nothing to do with gender.

“It’s about… what is best for the Australian people, what is best for us as a Liberal party.

“The Labor Party has short memories about what they did to Julia Gillard and what they’ve done to Tanya Plibersek.”

Senion Liberal Jame Hume says she is voting for Angus Taylor in the leadership ballot this morning, also revealing she is putting her hand up to be deputy.

“Sussan Ley is a good person. She has worked incredibly hard,” she told Sunrise.

Ms Hume said that her electorate, and people in other electorates, were telling the Liberal Party they needed “something more”. She would not predict the winner of the ballot but dropped a major clue.

“I do feel that Angus has very strong support in the party room from his colleagues.”

Senator Hume said the “amount of effort the Labor party has gone to, to tear down Angus Taylor down” in recent days, shows they fear him as leader.

Senator Hume said that the Liberal Party had eclipsed its past low lows and needed change today.

Speaking of her record, Senator Hume said she had the experience to offer what was needed for the Liberals as deputy leader.

As of Friday morning, reports suggest that Opposition Sussan Ley could secure 21 votes for the Liberal leadership, while Angus Taylor is tipped to secure at least 29 votes.

If the reports are correct, it tips the scales in Mr Taylor’s favour just nine months after he lost to Ms Ley following Peter Dutton’s resignation from the leadership follow the horror Liberal result in the 2025 Federal election.

The Liberal party room was pushed to Friday morning, despite Mr Taylor’s camp hoping for a Thursday night ballot.

It appears that the extra hours have proven unfruitful for Ms Ley, with Mr Taylor looking more and more likely to secure leadership.

Angus Taylor had set the wheels in motion for a showdown after he resigned from Sussan Ley’s frontbench on Wednesday.

On Thursday he declared he intended to run for the leadership.

In a slick social media video filmed at a rural location, Mr Taylor said he was running for the top job “because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for”.

“I believe we need strong and decisive leadership that gives Australians clarity, courage and confidence in providing a vision for the future.

“We’re running out of time,” he said.

Other Liberals joined in and also abandoned Ms Ley. Among them were powerbrokers Jonno Duniam, the shadow minister for home affairs and manager of Opposition business in the Senate, and James Paterson, shadow minister for finance and a member of the leadership group, as well as shadow foreign minister Michaelia Cash.

Read the full editorial here.

The Liberals’ day of reckoning is upon us, with Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley going head-to-head for leadership of the Party, as a frontrunner emerges.

The party has battled horror poll results over the last Federal election, where Petter Dutton secured one of the worst results for the Liberals ever.

Now, after the polls dropped below 20 per cent for Ms Ley, the trigger has finally been pulled, and a spill has been called.

Friday, 9am is D-day for the Liberal Party as it attempts to fight out of a “change or die” moment, and regain relevance, legitimacy and support.

Mr Taylor is now tipped to have more support than Ms Ley, prepping the Liberals to draw a line in the sand and turn a new page if the conservative’s win eventuates.