After a tense week in Australian politics, the Liberal Party has a new leader.

Angus Taylor defeated Sussan Ley 34 votes to 17 in a spill meeting on Friday morning.

The challenge, which followed days of speculation, ended Ley's nine-month tenure as the first woman to lead the Liberal Party.

Today, we’ll explore how we got here and who Angus Taylor is.

Peter Dutton led the Liberal Party into the May 2025 Federal election, which ended in a historic defeat for the Coalition.

After Dutton lost his seat, the Liberals needed a new leader.

Two senior MPs, Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley, put their hands up to take over the leadership.

Ley ultimately won a ballot to become Liberal leader, and therefore the Opposition Leader.

In the nine months since, the Liberal Party has faced two Coalition splits, abandoned net zero, lost support to One Nation, and attempted to reflect on its landslide election defeat.

To understand this week's events, we need to rewind to January.

Unlike Labor, the Liberal National Coalition allows its members to vote according to their conscience on most issues — unless they are in the Shadow Cabinet.

“Shadow Cabinet solidarity” means the Coalition’s most senior ministers must reach unified decisions and vote as a block.

In January, Nationals in the Shadow Cabinet broke from the Liberals when voting on a bill to reform hate speech laws following the Bondi terror attack. After breaking solidarity, three Nationals resigned from the Shadow Cabinet on 20 January.

The next day, National Party leader David Littleproud announced the Coalition had split (for the second time in eight months). He declared that continuing in Coalition with the Liberal Party under Ley's leadership was “untenable” and could not continue.

Just over two weeks later, Ley and Littleproud announced the Coalition had reformed. The reunion came as polling figures showed support for the Opposition had dipped to historic lows.

The national Newspoll showed Labor with 33% of the primary vote, One Nation on 27% (a record high), followed by the Coalition’s 18% (a record low). The figures also showed Sussan Ley had become Australia’s most unpopular major party leader in 23 years.

On Wednesday evening, Taylor stepped down from his role as Shadow Defence Minister.

The move freed him from Shadow Cabinet solidarity, allowing him to publicly criticise Ley’s decisions and, eventually, launch a leadership bid.

Taylor told reporters: “The Liberal Party is at the worst position it has been since 1944, when the party was formed.”

He called this “a confronting reality” that cannot be ignored.

While he stopped short of explicitly declaring a leadership challenge, Taylor said he didn't believe Ley was “in a position to be able to lead the party, as it needs to be led from here.”

By Thursday morning, multiple Liberal frontbenchers had resigned from their positions in a coordinated show of support for Taylor.

Among them was Phillip Thompson, who said his party was in a “death spiral” and that Taylor had “the ability to get the party out of it.”

Thompson formally requested a party room meeting, where Taylor could challenge Ley for the job of opposition leader.

Taylor then posted a video to social media confirming his intentions.

“The Liberal Party has lost its way. I'm committing myself to the cause of restoring our party so that it can be the party that Australians respect and deserve,” he said.

Ley scheduled a party room meeting for Friday morning.

Ahead of the vote, Taylor was projected to secure a narrow majority. But the final result was far from close, with Taylor winning 34 votes to Ley’s 17. One person abstained.

Senator Jane Hume was elected deputy leader, defeating incumbent Ted O'Brien 30 votes to 20.

Hume becomes the first Senator to serve as deputy of the Liberal Party since 1989.

In his first address as Opposition leader, Taylor acknowledged the party “got some big calls wrong” and declared “we must look ahead and put the disagreements of the recent past behind us”.

Taylor has represented the NSW seat of Hume since 2013. He grew up on a farm in the NSW Snowy Mountains and attended boarding school in Sydney.

Taylor studied economics and law at the University of Sydney before achieving a Master of Philosophy in Economics at Oxford University.

Before entering politics, Taylor worked in management consulting and agribusiness.

In his first speech to Parliament in 2013, Taylor said pursuing global opportunities would “strengthen” Australia. “This is how we will sustain our sovereignty, not by putting up new barriers.”

He said Australia has always depended upon “trade, foreign investment, immigration and innovation. More than ever, our future prosperity will stand on these four pillars.”

On Friday, Taylor’s first address as Liberal leader focused on living standards and holding the Albanese Government to account.

As Opposition leader, he promised change, including cost-of-living relief and an immigration policy focused on “lower numbers” and “higher standards”.

Taylor accused Labor of failing to protect Australians in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, and said “our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life.”

Hours after her defeat, Ley announced she would resign from Parliament, ending a 25-year political career. Her departure will trigger a by-election in her regional NSW seat of Farrer.

“When something ends in sadness, don't dwell in disappointment,” she said.

“I was part of the early punk rock movement in Canberra, I will continue to find wisdom in one of punk's defining themes: A fearless and honest belief in yourself.”

Ley said she’s not sure what comes next, but looks forward to “stepping away, completely and comprehensively, from public life.”

Taylor thanked Ley for her “extraordinary contribution” to the Liberal Party and to Australia.

“She took on an incredibly difficult task after a humbling election defeat back in May last year. Her work ethic has been absolutely relentless,” he added.

An underground play you can’t miss

What? A Mirror – a darkly funny, smart new play about art vs power. Under the guise of a wedding, an underground performance exposes censorship, bureaucracy, and uncomfortable truths.

Where? Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney.

When? 21 Feb – 8 Mar.