Angus Taylor declares he will run for leader as Liberals call for spill meeting to dump Sussan Ley

A leadership showdown between Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor is set for Friday morning after a drama-filled day punctuated by a swathe of resignations from the shadow ministry.

Liberals will meet in Canberra at 9am Friday to resolve the question of who is best to dig the party out of its woes.

Jockeying is well underway also for the deputy leader position, with one MP saying there was a “Melbourne Cup field” of contenders.

Mr Taylor quit as shadow defence minister late on Wednesday night, saying he didn’t believe Ms Ley was “in a position to be able to lead the party as it needs to be led”.

He declared Thursday morning that he wanted to lead.

“I’m running to be the leader of the Liberal Party because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for,” he said in a slick social media video filmed at a rural location.

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

“I’m committing myself to the cause of restoring our party so that it can be the party that Australians expect and deserve. Because we’re running out of time and Australia is worth fighting for.”

Ms Ley didn’t make any public comments about her record, but issued a series of social media posts talking up the Liberal values of lower taxes, better budgets and a stronger economy.

“As Liberals, we believe deeply in the power of the individual - in the idea that people should be free to make choices about their own lives, and that the role of government is to enable, not to dictate. We see how individual personal responsibility and families are at the core of strong communities. We believe in the role of enterprise and business, in aspiration, and in keeping more of what you earn,” she said in a parliamentary speech on Closing the Gap.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese derided Mr Taylor’s announcement as being “just the vibe”.

“They love fighting but they never fight for Australia, they just fight each other. Because it goes to the core values, and we have seen that with the extraordinary launch of a leadership campaign that did not have a single new policy idea,” he said.

A trio of shadow ministers – Claire Chandler, Phil Thompson and Matt O’Sullivan – resigned their outer frontbench positions early on Thursday morning.

Senior figures James Paterson, Jonno Duniam, Michaelia Cash, Dan Tehan and James McGrath, along with Leah Blyth and Dean Smith followed as the day unfolded.

Senators Cash, Paterson and Duniam were part of Ms Ley’s leadership team and held senior portfolios, while Mr Tehan had helped navigate the tricky party room pathway to dump the net zero emissions target.

Senator Paterson pointed out that since the election last May, some 2.1 million of the 5 million Australians who voted for the Coalition had deserted the party.

“That’s more than 200,000 votes a month. It’s more than 50,000 votes a week. It’s more than 7000 votes a day. This cannot go on,” he said.

“If it goes on, there’ll be nothing left of the Liberal Party by the next election.”

However, he cautioned colleagues that things were likely to get worse before they got better given the recent infighting.

Labor ministers attacked the Liberals during Question Time for preparing to dump their first female leader.

“In the last nine months what we have seen is the persistent undermining of the Liberal Party’s first-ever female leader from day one,” Catherine King said, citing the shadow attorney-general and Ley ally Andrew Wallace.

“While the Liberals engage in the spectacle that we see before us, Labor is getting on with work and we are working every day for the women of this country.”

Close Ley ally Melissa Price lamented Ms Ley had been undermined, partially because she was a woman.

“Once Sussan won the ballot back in May it was obvious to me that there was still a team of winners and losers,” she said.

“She wasn’t going to get their support because people who had lost, i.e. the people who’d been supporting Angus, they weren’t happy about that, and partly it was because all of a sudden we had a woman as a leader.

“Julia Gillard was very famous in saying about her own prime ministerial leadership that it wasn’t all about her being a female, but it wasn’t nothing either, and I think that is definitely the case with Sussan.”

However, Senator O’Sullivan said the problem was that it was clear the Australian people weren’t warming to Ms Ley.

“This shouldn’t be looked at through a gendered lens. The reality is over a million female voters that voted for us last time are now saying they’re not going to vote for us,” he told this masthead.

“What they’re looking for is an alternative vision for the country and not an opposition that’s just reactive to what the Government’s putting up day-to-day.

“We’re failing to present that clear alternative.”

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, whose party’s rapid rise in the polls has tanked the Coalition vote, said no new leader could resurrect the Liberals.

“It doesn’t matter what jockey you put on, it’s still a dead horse,” she told this masthead.

“The people pay for these politicians … to do their job and question accountability. Australian people, for the last four years, haven’t seen that of the Opposition, and that’s why they’ve turned away from them.”

Mr Thompson and first-term NSW Senator Jess Collins made the request for a special party room meeting to spill both the leader and deputy leader positions.

WA Liberal MP Ben Small told reporters outside Parliament House that conservative leadership rival Mr Taylor “is the man” needed to run the Liberal Party.

“I think that we’re at a crossroads as a party,” the Forrest MP said.

“For us to be a relevant political force that fights for middle Australia and the dreams of home ownership, a strong economy, and a strong Australia – Angus is the man.”

The vote in the 51-strong party room is likely to be very tight, Ms Ley’s supporters say.

However, those backing Mr Taylor believe they have about 30 votes among colleagues.

Last May, Ms Ley won the leadership against Mr Taylor 29-25. Since then, changes in the make-up of Parliament mean Ms Ley has lost three supporters.

Taylor backers are now trying to persuade Ms Ley to step aside from the leadership rather than force a vote to vacate the position before an election between candidates.

Speculation is also rife about what Ms Ley will do if she loses, with fears the rural-based MP could quit Federal Parliament and force a damaging by-election.

The Climate 200-backed independent that ran strongly in Farrer last time has already told this masthead she would likely run again, while there are fears One Nation would surge given its standing in the polls.

But some in Mr Taylor’s camp have dismissed the suggestion Ms Ley would resign as a scare tactic.

The race for the deputy position is an open field, with Mr Taylor not explicitly backing anyone – unlike last year, when he had Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on his side.

Friends have told him not to run on a ticket because it would cloud the key decision MPs have to make about who is the leader.

Mr Tehan was the first to formally declare his candidacy, saying on Thursday evening that if he won , he had four priorities: “We need to immediately unify, hold this dreadful Albanese Labor Government to account, develop a policy manifesto true to our values and make us match fit to win elections.”

Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson endorsed Jane Hume for the deputy, saying she would make a “formidable combination” with Mr Taylor.

But a Ley ally told The Nightly that the Taylor-Hume pairing would be a drag rather than a renewal for the party.

“What will be a big deal would be the baggage that would come with the very low economic credibility that would bring,” they said.

Earlier, Liberal sources said another Victorian, Zoe McKenzie, was firming as the favourite to be deputy.

Other names in the mix are incumbent Ted O’Brien, leadership aspirant Melissa McIntosh, WA MP Melissa Price, and Tim Wilson.

Mr Wilson kept his cards close to his chest as he entered Parliament House on Thursday, but declared he wanted a leader with a “very clear vision”.

“I’ll be looking for a leader with a clear track record of turning impossible situations into improbable victories,” he said.

He didn’t answer when asked if he would be running as deputy.

Two colleagues said they expect Mr Wilson – a moderate who was the only Liberal to win a seat back from the teals last year – to do whatever was best for Mr Wilson.