Votes are still being tallied in the ACT election but the Liberals are already preparing for a leadership spill.
Former opposition leader Jeremy Hanson has announced a tilt at the party’s leadership after incumbent Elizabeth Lee failed to topple the Labor-Greens government following 23 years in political exile.
“There was definitely a mood for change this election and we failed to harness that,” he told AAP on Monday.
With more than three quarters of the vote counted, Labor is on track to form government for a record seventh-straight term in coalition with the Greens.
The Liberals are likely to pick up one seat in the electorate of Brindabella, bringing their total to 10, but still suffered a swing against them of 0.9 per cent, as of Monday afternoon.
Mr Hanson vacated the leadership after losing the 2016 election. But the Liberals still managed to pick up 12 seats – the party’s highest total in the 25-seat Legislative Assembly – and 36.7 per cent of the vote in that campaign.
Since then the party’s vote share has declined below a third.
Mr Hanson said he had “the experience, the work ethic and the aptitude” to turn the trend around.
A member of the conservative faction of the Liberal Party, Mr Hanson campaigned against the 2023 referendum for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Liberal insiders speaking to AAP on condition of anonymity questioned Mr Hanson’s fit for the role, given the ACT is the most progressive jurisdiction in the country.
The Liberals didn’t lose any votes to the right, with the bulk of voters deserting the major parties going to progressive independents instead.
Liberal representative Mark Parton, who belongs to the moderate faction, said it would be “blatantly ridiculous” for the party to search for far-right voters in Canberra.
“I think the centre is the only place where we can win an election here,” he told ABC Radio on Monday morning, before Mr Hanson announced his intention to challenge the leadership.
Mr Hanson said the party shouldn’t be sucked into the argument about whether the leader should be a moderate or a conservative
“That’s the Labor Party’s narrative. We can’t obsess over factional politics,” he said
“We need to present a credible alternative party and a leader that can handle the pressure of being chief minister and have the experience and confidence to do that.”
Mr Hanson said he wasn’t being critical of any of his colleagues but questions needed to be asked about why the Liberals’ campaign failed.
Ms Lee could not be contacted on Monday but after the election refused to say whether she would seek to remain in the leadership role.
“I do not know what the future holds for me. Don’t ask. I won’t tell you,” she said on Saturday night.
Mr Hanson was dumped as deputy leader of the Liberals in 2023, with some members expressing concerns the party was listing too far to the right.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr told ABC News Breakfast on Monday the Canberra Liberals were “the most right-wing branch of the Liberal Party in this country”.
