Angus Taylor elected new Liberal Party leader, Jane Hume deputy as Sussan Ley resigns

• Follow our live coverage of the Liberal Party leadership spill here.

Angus Taylor has won the Liberal leadership in a party room vote, promising to make the opposition a strong alternative after several months of record-low polling.

He won the leadership ballot by 34 votes to 17 against Sussan Ley, who announced shortly after the vote that she would resign from parliament. Her resignation will mean a byelection in her seat of Farrer in coming months, a contest that could be a five-cornered contest between the Liberals, Nationals, Labor, One Nation and an independent.

Ley served as Liberal leader for nine months after being elected in the immediate aftermath of the Coalition’s disastrous election result in May.

Jane Hume was elected as the party’s new deputy leader, seeing off a challenge from incumbent Ted O’Brien, 30 votes to 20, with one abstention. Dan Tehan and Melissa Price also put their names forward for that position.

The margin was bigger than anyone in the party would have thought a few days ago. Taylor is the 17th person to lead the federal Liberal Party and is likely to speak for the first time in his new position on Friday afternoon.

Taylor’s supporters have signalled a more conservative agenda in contrast to Ley’s stated appeal to shift to the centre.

Ley announced that she would resign from parliament about an hour after the leadership vote, setting up a byelection for the seat of Farrer in the coming months. Her nine months as opposition leader was the second-shortest stint in Australian history, excluding those who became prime minister.

“I leave it for others to judge this period of my leadership now … while I’m sure plenty of people will have plenty to say, I’ve never sought to influence what other people think of me,” she said.

“There is no doubt that it has been a challenging time to lead the party after we suffered the worst defeat in 81 years.

“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.”

Ley thanked colleagues who had voted for her and said she wished Taylor well, saying she had “no hard feelings” towards him.

One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce declared on Friday that his party will run a candidate in Farrer, the sprawling NSW electorate that covers 123,563 square kilometres.

In 2025, One Nation candidate Emma Hicks attracted 6.6 per cent of the primary vote. Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe, who received funding from teal-backing group Climate 200, came second to Ley last time, with 20 per cent of the primary vote and 43.8 per cent of the preference count.

“One Nation, we will be standing in Farrer … we look forward to giving people in Farrer the opportunity to see the clarity, the unity, the strength and a decisive change, because that’s what they’re asking for the nation,” Joyce said.

“We know that area. We know regional New South Wales. And we look forward to having a candidate who’s also very au fait with the issues.”