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Internal Party Divisions and Political Instability Threaten Conservative Opposition's Unity and Electoral Prospects.
Sussan Ley, leader of the Australian Liberal Party, is facing the possibility of challenges to her leadership due to the recent resignation of shadow defence minister Angus Taylor. As the first female leader of the Liberal Party, she must now navigate both party division and political instability at this moment, creating the perfect storm for her to survive. On Wednesday, Taylor's resignation came with strong comments by him on the leadership of Ley, stating that the party "did not hold accountable a bad Labor government" and suggesting that she will be unable to lead the party forward.
Ley became the leader of the Liberal Party after one of its worst electoral performances and has struggled to achieve significant numbers in the polls since that time, as well as to resolve on-going division within the party. According to local media, Taylor's supporters are preparing to call for a special meeting of the party room in order to consider whether to trigger a leadership spill motion. This situation threatens Ley's leadership and creates speculation about a possible leadership challenge.
A recent split occurred just days prior to the Bondi Beach tragedy, but the coalition has recently made up after disagreement over legislation regarding the incident. Political dynamics have changed with the popularity of One Nation (a party) in Australia, with recent polling indicating that One Nation will overtake the coalition in votes, despite having only received 6% of votes in Australia’s last federal election.
The Nationals (a party within the coalition) have typically been based in rural communities and are more conservative than the Liberal party is. Ley has found that the Nationals have been particularly hostile toward her leadership with their leader “David Littleproud” indicating prior to his recent resignation that he had misgivings about serving under her.
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