‘Taken its toll’: First-term Liberal MP in shock departure

First-term Liberal MP Jordan Lane will quit state politics at the March election, saying his time as member for Ryde had taken a toll.

Lane’s extraordinary departure after just one term will decimate Liberal chances of holding on to the seat, which the 32-year-old won on a margin of just 0.1 per cent.

He is the seventh Liberal MP to announce they will quit politics at the state election, leaving Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane to fight for the premiership with about a third of her lower house colleagues jumping ship.

“Hey Ryde, it’s not you, it’s me,” Lane said in a social media video.

Lane, who is one of the youngest parliamentarians in Macquarie Street, said he had spent most of his adult life representing Ryde, including as mayor before he became the state MP.

“That kind of time takes a toll and I’ve made a really difficult decision to step away from politics for a while,” he said.

Senior Liberal sources not authorised to speak publicly said the party had already been panicked about their chance in Ryde, where a split of the conservative vote thanks to One Nation could hand Labor the seat. The party’s chief advantage in the seat, Lane’s incumbency, has now been taken away.

In his announcement video Lane said he believed Ryde Councillor Justin Li should be the next Liberal member for Ryde. It was not clear if Li had been officially selected as the Liberal candidate.

Liberal sources have expressed dismay that MPs were leaving it so late to announce their departure.

Earlier this week Mark Coure, who holds one of Sydney’s most marginal seats in Oatley, also announced he would retire from state politics at the March election. Coure is one of the Liberal Party’s key moderates and a senior member of shadow cabinet, who since 2011 has successfully withstood campaigns from Labor to take his marginal electorate.

His decision came after being endorsed as the Liberal candidate in Oatley, leaving party headquarters to hunt for a new candidate.

Senior frontbenchers Alister Henskens and James Griffin, and long-serving MPs Ray Williams, Tanya Davies and Mark Taylor have all announced they will depart at the election.

More to come.