Peter Dutton stands ‘unopposed’ as Liberal Party leader

Former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has confirmed speculation that Peter Dutton will be the next leader of the Coalition with Sussan Ley as Deputy.

As reported by the ABC, Andrews says the duo run “unopposed” with unanimous support and will “reshape the party for the future”.

“He [Dutton] will be standing, unopposed, to take on the leadership and that means there’s no one else putting their hand up,” Andrews said.

“His deputy is almost certain to be Sussan Ley. Together, they will bring a team to appoint people into the shadow ministry and to reshape the party for the future.”

Thanks for the chat @mjrowland68 and @BreakfastNews. Great to share my views about the future of the Liberal party and its leadership. https://t.co/p5zdSmk1Az

— Karen Andrews MP (@karenandrewsmp) May 24, 2022

Before the election, it was predicted Josh Frydenberg would battle Dutton for the next Liberal Party (LNP) leadership role if Scott Morrison lost, however, the former Treasurer lost his seat of Kooyong to an Independent, leaving Dutton as the only contender for the job.

Today, I contacted Dr Monique Ryan to congratulate her on the election result in Kooyong.

It’s been an incredible privilege to have served as the local member for the last 12 years.

Kooyong, thank you. pic.twitter.com/T6aMK53Zl5

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) May 23, 2022

Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is also facing a potential leadership challenge following the Coalition’s election loss.

The announcement of a leadership spill in the junior LNP is expected to be announced on May 30.

Despite contention for Joyce’s leadership starting before the election, Queensland Nationals Senator and Joyce’s close friend, Matt Canavan, said it would be “foolhardy” to dump the leader.

“Now’s the time for stability as much as possible and we had a very good election result,” Canavan said.

“Barnaby did very well and deserves to continue to lead the party.”

Speaking with ABC News Breakfast, Joyce said: “Once the election is over, you go back to two separate parties and negotiate a coalition”.

“I’m very confident about the democratic process being the best way to determine which way a party goes, and I accept the outcome of it.”

Andrews said she believes the Coalition need to understand why they lost the election, attributing the reason to “droves” of women ditching their support for the party.

“The reality is, that the people we lost in droves were predominantly women, educated women,” she said.

“They were women who were financially secure. They were unhappy with the Liberal Party and they chose to take their vote elsewhere.”